CABINET OFFICE

Census

Mike Gapes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the Debate of 3 March 2014, Official Report, columns 726-32W, on Census (Kashmiri ethnic representation), if he will add a category of Kashmiri to the tick boxes on the census.

Nick Hurd: No decision has been made on the topics or questions that could be considered for a future census.

Census: Internet

Mark Williams: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he will take to ensure that people who do not have online access will be able to participate in the census in 2021.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Peter Fullerton, dated March 2014
	In the absence of the Director General of the Office for National Statistics I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office about what steps will be taken to ensure that people who do not have online access will be able to participate in the Census in 2021 (194655).
	The National Statistician's recommendation for the census and future provision of population statistics in England and Wales was announced on 27th March 2014. Although the Board of the UK Statistics Authority has accepted and endorsed the recommendation it is a matter for the Government and Parliament to determine arrangements for census-taking in the future.
	If the Government accepts the National Statistician's recommendation for a predominantly online census in 2021, supplemented by the further use of administrative and survey data, the Office for National Statistics recognises that special care would need to be taken to support those who are unable to complete the census online.
	Internet access, via computers, tablets and mobile devices, is increasing all the time. At present more than 80 per cent of households in the UK say they use the internet daily. While we cannot guess what levels of internet access will be in 2021 we recognise that there will be people who will need help. We would do everything we can to make sure that everyone who asks for help in completing a census online receives it. Detailed arrangements will be considered once the Government and Parliament have made a decision on the National Statistician's recommendation. As with previous censuses we would expect there to be a team of field staff to help people to complete a form, and for those who require it, a paper form will still be available.

Diabetes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the standardised mortality rate from diabetes was in each parliamentary constituency in the latest year for which figures are available; and what the average standardised mortality rate from diabetes in England was in each of the last 15 years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Caron Walker, dated April 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the standardised mortality rates from Diabetes were in each Parliamentary constituency in the latest year for which figures are available; and what the average standardised mortality rate from diabetes in England has been in each of the last 15 years.
	Table 1 provides the age-standardised mortality rate where diabetes mellitus was the underlying cause of death in each parliamentary constituency in England. Rates based on low numbers are susceptible to inaccurate interpretation, so rates based on aggregated figures for deaths registered between 2010 and 2012 (the latest year available) have been provided.
	Table 2 provides the age-standardised mortality rate where diabetes mellitus was the underlying cause of death in England, for deaths registered in each year from 1998 to 2012 (the latest year available).
	A copy of Table 1 has been placed in the Library of the House.
	
		
			 Table 2: Age-standardised mortality rate where the underlying cause of death was diabetes mellitus, England, deaths registered from 1998 to 20121, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 
			 Registration year Rate Upper confidence limit Lower confidence limit 
			 1998 7.5 7.7 7.3 
			 1999 7.6 7.9 7.4 
			 2000 7.3 7.5 7.1 
			 2001 7.6 7.8 7.4 
			 2002 7.5 7.7 7.3 
			 2003 7.6 7.8 7.4 
			 2004 6.9 7.1 6.7 
			 2005 6.6 6.7 6.4 
			 2006 6.3 6.5 6.1 
			 2007 6.1 6.2 5.9 
			 2008 6.1 6.2 5.9 
			 2009 5.7 5.8 5.5 
			 2010 5.4 5.6 5.3 
			 2011 5.0 5.2 4.9 
			 2012 5.0 5.1 4.8 
			 1 Age-standardised rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the 1976 European Standard Population (ESP). Age-standardised rates are used to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. For more information on ESP, see the ONS website: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/health-and-life-events/revised-european-standard-population-2013--2013-esp-/index.html 2 Rates are based on deaths registered in each year from 1998 to 2012. For information about registration delays, see the ONS website: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/health-and-life-events/impact-of-registration-delays-on-mortality-statistics/index.html 3 Confidence intervals are a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and show the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. Calculations based on small numbers of events are often subject to random fluctuations. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two figures. 4 Underlying cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revisions (ICD9) code 250 and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes E10 - E14. 5 Deaths of non-residents are excluded. 6 Boundaries as of February 2014. Source: Office for National Statistics.

Pensioners: Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people (a) of pensionable age and (b) over 80 years old there are in Brigg and Goole constituency.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Caron Walker, dated April 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people (a) of pensionable age and (b) over 80 years old there are in Brigg and Goole constituency (194488).
	ONS publishes annual estimates of the resident population of the UK, by age, as at 30 June each year. The latest available estimates show that there were an estimated 20,037 people of pensionable age in Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency at mid-2012.
	The estimate of pensionable age gives the number of women aged 61 and over, and men aged 65 and over, which is the closest available approximation to state pension age at mid-2012 that can be obtained for population estimates by parliamentary constituency.
	The estimated population of Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency who were aged 80 and over (that is, have passed their 80th birthday) at mid-2012 is 4,546.
	The latest population estimates for parliamentary constituencies in England and Wales were published on 26 November 2013 and are available on the ONS website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/sape/parliament-constituency-pop-est/mid-2012/index.html

Prostate Cancer

Simon Burns: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the (a) incidence rate and (b) age standardised incidents rate of prostate cancer in (i) England and (ii) each parliamentary constituency was in the latest year for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Joe Grice, dated April 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the (a) incidence rate and (b) age standardised incidents rate of prostate cancer in (i) England and (ii) each parliamentary constituency was in the latest year for which figures are available [194373].
	The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2011 Table 1 provides the (a) unstandardised incidence rate and (b) age-standardised rate of prostate cancer for (i) England and (ii) each parliamentary constituency in England for 2011.
	A copy of Table 1 has been placed in the Library of the House.
	The latest published figures on cancer survival in England are available on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/cancer-unit/cancer-survival/index.html

Prostate Cancer

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many men in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) England died from advanced prostate cancer in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many men in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) England died from advanced prostate cancer in each of the last five years. (194484)
	Table 1 attached provides the number of deaths where prostate cancer was the underlying cause of death, in Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency and England, for deaths registered between 2008 and 2012 (the latest year available).
	Internationally accepted guidance from the World Health Organisation requires any conditions that contributed directly to a death to be recorded on the death certificate. In cases where a cancer is deemed to have contributed to a death, medical practitioners and coroners are not required to specify whether the cancer was advanced at the time of death.
	The number of deaths registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age and underlying cause (including cancer), are published annually on the ONS website at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-27475
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of deaths where the underlying cause was prostate cancer in Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency and England, deaths registered between 2008 and 20121,2,3 
			 Deaths (males) 
			 Area of usual residence 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 England 8,593 8,843 9,085 9,123 9,133 
			 Brigg and Goole 16 15 8 19 11 
			 1 Underlying cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C61 (Malignant neoplasm of prostate). It has been assumed that where prostate cancer was judged to be the underlying cause of death, it can be considered “advanced”. 2 Figures are based on boundaries correct as at February 2014 and exclude non-residents. 3 Figures are based on deaths registered rather than deaths occurring in a calendar year. Further information on registration delays for a range of causes including prostate cancer can be found on the ONS website: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/health-and-life-events/impact-of-registration-delays-on-mortality-statistics/index.html

Unemployment: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the percentage change in long-term youth unemployment was in each constituency between 2010 and the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Joe Grice, dated April 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Cabinet Office what the percentage change in long term youth unemployment was in each constituency between 2010 and the most recent period for which figures are available. (194345)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. However, estimates on duration of youth unemployment for parliamentary constituencies are not available due to small sample sizes.
	As an alternative, we have provided the number of people in each parliamentary constituency aged under 25 years who were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for more than 12 months, for May 2010 and February 2014, the latest period available, along with the percentage change over that period. As the information requested is quite extensive, a copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	A copy of the table will be placed in the Library of the House.

PRIME MINISTER

Sri Lanka

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Prime Minister what recent discussions he has had with his Commonwealth counterparts on the resolution passed by the 25th Human Rights Council session on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka.

David Cameron: Ahead of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution vote on Sri Lanka on 27 March, I personally engaged with a wide range of UNHRC member states including those from the Commonwealth, as did the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), and other Ministers.
	We will work closely with our international partners to support the implementation of the resolution establishing an international investigation. We believe that progress on accountability, human rights and reconciliation is important in establishing an enduring peace in Sri Lanka. Such progress will ensure Sri Lanka can reach its full potential as a strong and prosperous nation.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Domestic Violence

Helen Jones: To ask the Attorney-General how many prosecutions have been (a) commenced, (b) resulted in a non-custodial sentence and (c) resulted in a custodial sentence for (i) witness intimidation, (ii) perverting the cause of justice and (iii) conspiracy to pervert the course of justice as a result of incidents arising from cases involving domestic violence in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Oliver Heald: The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts which were flagged as involving domestic violence, rather than the number of defendants or cases prosecuted.
	The data are accurate only to the extent that the flag has been correctly applied.
	Offences of perverting the course of justice are charged under Common Law, conspiracy to pervert justice, by way of Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 and intimidation of a witness or juror by way of Section 51 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
	The following table shows, for each of the last five years, the number of these offences charged and reaching a first hearing at magistrates courts, which were identified as involving domestic violence.
	
		
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 
			 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (51): Intimidating/threatening or harming a witness or juror 846 859 763 611 686 
			 Common Law: Perverting the course of justice (including attempts) 140 136 103 121 150 
			 Criminal Law Act 1977 (1): Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice 4 7 5 4 8 
			 Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System 
		
	
	There is no indication of the final prosecution outcome, or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at the time of finalisation. It is also often the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same victim.
	It is not possible to centrally disaggregate offences charged by way of Section 51 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, to separately identify those offences relating to witnesses from those concerning jurors. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur disproportionate cost.
	The CPS does not hold records of sentences imposed following a conviction. Statistics relating to sentences are maintained by the Ministry of Justice.

Domestic Violence

Helen Jones: To ask the Attorney-General how many people have been prosecuted under the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 for breach of a non-molestation order in each police force area in each year since that Act came into force.

Oliver Heald: The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service do not identify the number of people prosecuted for a breach of a non-molestation order. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur disproportionate cost.

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Attorney-General what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by the Law Officers' Departments' were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Oliver Heald: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 721W.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Airwave Service

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers about proposals for the emergency services communications network to be operated on a commercially available network.

Damian Green: The recommendation to base the replacement communication system, for the emergency services, on a commercially available network was agreed during development of the Emergency Service Mobile Communications Programme Business Case. This preferred direction of travel and alternative options, were briefed to ACPO, and were written with the involvement, assurance and approval of the three emergency services, funding Departments and the devolved Governments of Wales and Scotland.

Airwave Service

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts with her Department are held by Airwave; what the value is of each such contract; and when each such contract is due for renewal.

Karen Bradley: The Home Department has 57 contracts with Airwave Solutions Limited. The total whole-life value of all the contracts is estimated at £4.18 billion (the cost may vary, depending on usage). All contracts commenced between 21 September 2001 and 31 December 2005 and are due for expiry between 21 September 2016 to 31 December 2020.

Entry Clearances: Entertainers

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the efficiency and consistency with which the Permitted Paid Engagements scheme has been applied to musicians, composers and artists visiting the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Permitted Paid Engagement (PPE) Visitor route was introduced in 2012 for professionals carrying out paid engagements in the UK for up to one month. It extends to musicians, composers and artists.
	Feedback received from businesses and arts organisations shows that this route is working as intended and offers greater flexibility for professionals undertaking paid engagements. We work closely with operational colleagues and regularly seek feedback from partners to ensure the route is working as intended.

Foreign Workers

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward legislative proposals to regulate workers posted to the UK by companies.

James Brokenshire: Non-EEA nationals posted to the UK branch of their company are already regulated under the Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) route, as set out in the immigration rules.
	Non-EEA nationals posted to the UK as contractual service suppliers under an international trade agreement are regulated under the Tier 5 (International Agreement) route.

Illegal Immigrants: Employment

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the number of illegal immigrants employed in the UK; and what change there has been in this number since May 2010.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 24 March 2014
	HM Government has not made any estimate of the number of illegal migrants currently employed in the UK. Given the clandestine nature of illegal migrants, any estimation is, by definition, extremely difficult and prone to considerable uncertainty.
	However, the Government takes illegal immigration very seriously and is focusing on measures to ensure that illegal migrants cannot live, work or abuse benefits and services in the UK. The Immigration Bill will prevent illegal migrants from accessing and abusing public services. It will also strengthen our existing arrangements to prevent illegal working, by making it easier to enforce penalties on employers found to be employing illegal workers; reform the removals and appeals system, making it simpler to remove those with no right to be in the UK; and end the abuse of Article 8 of the ECHR—the right to respect for private and family life. Parallel changes to secondary legislation will also double the maximum penalty for employing an illegal worker and strengthen the scheme as a whole, including by simplifying the checks employers must perform.

Overseas Students

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to record the departure of non-EU students as they leave the UK at the end of their studies.

James Brokenshire: The Office for National Statistics long-term international migration data include estimates of the numbers of students leaving the UK. At the request of the Home Office and other migration statistics users, the ONS has improved its methodology with an aim to identify emigrants who had originally arrived as students. This has assisted in assessing the contribution of students to overall net migration. It is estimated that 49,000 non-EU migrants, who had previously immigrated for study, had emigrated from the UK in the year ending September 2013.
	HM Government has made a commitment to reintroduce exit checks. By 2015, we will have checks in place on those who leave the UK by scheduled international air, sea and rail services. Introducing exit checks will improve our ability to confirm departure and to identify those who have failed to leave the UK when they should have done so.

Sexual Offences

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many men were victims of sexual violence in each of the last three years.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Joe Grice
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many men were victims of sexual violence in each of the last three years. (194459)
	Figures are provided for the last three financial years (April to March) from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). This shows the number of men (in thousands) aged 16-59 years old who were victims of sexual assault in the last year. Figures for the year 2013/14 will be published in July 2014.
	
		
			 Thousand 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Sexual assault (any assault, including attempts) 84 57 75 
		
	
	These figures are estimated based on a sample of the population and thus are subject to variability around the estimates. The apparent changes between the years shown are not statistically significant. The crime statistics data published by the ONS cover England and Wales only. There are separate crime surveys covering Scotland and Northern Ireland. Crime data for Scotland can be found at:
	http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/crime-and-justice-survey
	and data for Northern Ireland at:
	http://www.dojni.gov.uk/index/statistics-research/stats-research-publications/northern-ireland-crime-survey-s-r.htm

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Greece

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with EU counterparts about an EU response to the Greek government's proposed amendment to Article 19 of that country's draft immigration code;
	(2)  if he will make representations to the Greek government about its amendment to Article 19 of that country's draft immigration code which would allow for the arrest, prosecution and deportation of migrants who report law enforcement abuse;
	(3)  what steps his Department is taking to respond to the Greek government's decision to remove the humanitarian clause from that country's immigration code.

David Lidington: The Greek Government has not taken a decision to amend Article 19 of the Greek Immigration Code and withdrew the previously proposed amendment on 19 March. Migration policy is a matter for individual EU member states.

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

David Lidington: It is not possible to provide data at the level of detail requested without incurring disproportionate cost as the authority to enter into contracts under £80,000 is devolved to posts overseas and information on these is held locally. However, we can provide the 20 highest value contracts awarded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 2009, these are:
	£90 million to £100 million
	1. Vodafone Cable and Wireless—ECHO telecommunications programme
	2. G4S—Afghanistan Guarding
	£30 million to £90 million
	3. Computacenter—Firecrest/Desktop Infrastructure Contract
	4. Detica—Service Management Integrator Framework
	5. GardaWorld—Baghdad Guarding
	6. ISS—Facilities Management (Asia Pac)
	7. Bouyeges—Abuja Offices construction
	£0 million to £30 million
	8. G4S-UK Guarding
	9. Pickfords Move Management
	10. Oracle—Software Licenses
	11. KBR—Iraq/Afghan Personnel Support
	12. GardaWorld—Libya Guarding
	13. CBM—Mogadishu Office Construction
	14. Capgemini—Prism
	15. Pepco Energy Services—Washington Mechanical & Electrical Plant
	16. GIBS—Damascus Office Construction
	17. Microsoft—Software Licenses
	18. Allen Vanguard—Electronic Counter Measure Enhancement
	19. G4S—Somalia/Somaliland Close Protection
	20. Vodafone Cable and Wireless—Government Convergence Framework

Russia

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what asset freezes and visa bans he plans to impose following Russia's illegal annexation of the Crimea.

David Lidington: On 17 March, the EU Foreign Affairs Council imposed asset freezes and visa bans on 21 individuals responsible for undermining Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. On 21 March, following the illegal referendum in Crimea, the European Council decided a further 12 individuals should be added to this list. The European Council Conclusions of 6 and 17 March stated that any further steps by the Russian Federation to destabilise the situation in Ukraine would lead to additional and far reaching consequences for relations in a broad range of economic areas. The European Commission has been tasked with preparing possible measures and the UK is firmly behind this preparatory work being undertaken as a matter of urgency to ensure the EU can respond swiftly if needed.

Sri Lanka

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he will take to support the investigation by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes in Sri Lanka.

Hugo Swire: We welcome the passing of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on Sri Lanka on 27 March, which established an international investigation into alleged violations and abuses of international law on both sides of the military conflict in Sri Lanka, in addition to calling for progress on human rights and reconciliation. We were a main co-sponsor of the resolution and will give full support to the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in establishing an international investigation, as mandated by the UN Human Rights Council.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Asbestos

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether all buildings (a) owned and (b) used by his Department have been inspected in order to identify asbestos; and how frequently such inspections for asbestos occur.

Jennifer Willott: The Department does not own any buildings. For buildings used by the Department asbestos records are maintained by the Department's Facilities Management provider. All records are regularly reviewed. Before any refurbishment work is carried out to buildings further risk assessments are undertaken.

Conditions of Employment

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will introduce joint and several liability across the UK labour market to ensure subcontractors throughout a supply chain comply with employment law obligations.

Jennifer Willott: There are currently no plans to introduce joint and several liability across the UK labour market.

Foreign Workers

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will make an assessment of whether companies that post workers to the UK from other countries can create unfair competition for UK businesses.

Jennifer Willott: There are currently no plans to make such an assessment.
	Workers posted to the UK are entitled the same employment rights as UK workers, and are able to enforce these at an employment tribunal.

Green Investment Bank

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he next expects to meet the Green Investment Bank to discuss whether its investment strategy is in line with the Waste Hierarchy.

Michael Fallon: The role of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) is to help green infrastructure projects obtain the financing they need. GIB's investment criteria are designed to ensure the bank only provides finance to projects that achieve at least one of the five green purposes specified for GIB in legislation. These include diverting waste from landfill and reducing carbon emissions. Questions of whether or not a particular waste management project is appropriate, taking into account policy considerations such as the waste hierarchy, are addressed separately by the relevant planning authorities as part of the planning approval process.

Industrial Health and Safety

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which trades unions are involved with health and safety committees in his Department.

Jennifer Willott: The BIS London Health, Safety and Welfare Committee core membership includes a trade union side drawn from members in the building, who choose their representatives for each meeting in accordance with their own procedures. Unions recognised in BIS are Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Prospect and First Division Association (FDA). A trade union representative from the Departmental Trade Union and Central London Trade Union sides may also attend.

Industrial Health and Safety

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what health and safety committees operate in his Department.

Jennifer Willott: The BIS London Health, Safety and Welfare Committee consists of representatives from BIS Management, Core Estates and HR as necessary. There is also trade union representation.
	The committee is chaired by the Director of Estates (or nominated substitute) and aims to meet quarterly, with emergency meetings convened if necessary.
	As other BIS Head Offices are situated in buildings owned by other bodies such as the Department for Education and Companies House, BIS feeds into their health and safety arrangements as appropriate for tenants.

National Careers Service

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of the current marketing and advertising strategy document of the National Careers Service.

Matthew Hancock: The strategy for marketing the National Careers Service is to target the following groups, within the Government's wider strategy on marketing expenditure:
	individuals who are looking to advance their career;
	those who are looking for a better job to support a change in circumstances; and
	those who have been or are about to be made redundant.

Paternity Pay

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many men received statutory paternity pay for (a) ordinary paternity leave and (b) additional paternity leave in (i) 2011-12 and (ii) 2012-13.

Jennifer Willott: The Government collects data on the total amount of ordinary statutory paternity pay and additional statutory paternity pay reclaimed by employers and uses this to estimate the number of men taking ordinary and additional paternity leave. The figures for 2011-12 and 2012-13 are as follows:
	
		
			  Estimated number of claimants 
			 2011/12  
			 Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay (OSPP) 204,600 
			 Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP)1 2,150 
			   
			 2012/132  
			 Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay (OSPP) 208,600 
			 Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP) 3,867 
			 1 2011/12 was the first year that ASPP was claimed, a minority of employers incorrectly completed allocating other statutory payments to the ASPP field in the return. BIS have judged that providing figures from May 2013 scan give a more accurate estimate than the January 2014 figures. They should still be seen as indicative. 2 2012/13 figures are based on partial data. Note: All figures are estimates using the HMRC CANDIF database. Figures are calculated using a 2% or 3% scan of employer national insurance returns and scaling the results up to create a 100% estimate. Scan conducted in January 2014. 
		
	
	The numbers above relate to statutory payments paid by employers to their employees and the employer has claimed the statutory payment back. Some employers do not claim statutory payments back (this is especially true when the employer pays occupational paternity pay above the statutory rate).

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Jennifer Willott: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 721W.

South West

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many posts in his Department will be relocated to the South West in the next five years.

Jennifer Willott: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills currently has staff located in three main areas—London, Sheffield and Cardiff with a smaller presence in many other locations including Bristol. The Department also has a number of partner organisations located in the south-west, including the Met Office in Exeter, the Research Councils in Swindon and Higher Education Funding Council for England in Bristol.
	The Department is not currently considering relocating any staff in the short to medium-term.

Students: Fees and Charges

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the proportion of undergraduate university courses charged at the maximum tuition fee allowed;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the average total tuition fees incurred by a UK citizen studying full-time for an undergraduate degree at a university in England or Wales.

David Willetts: According to data published by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) in July 2013, the average tuition fee for students studying full time for an undergraduate degree and postgraduate initial teacher training at English institutions with access agreements was £8,499. This figure represents the most recent published estimate prior to the start of the 2013/14 academic year and is an average of “headline” fees. The average after fee waivers are taken into account is £8,247, and after all institutional support is taken into account the average cost per student is estimated to be £7,860. OFFA has not published separate information relating only to fees for full-time first degree courses, nor is tuition fee data disaggregated to the level of individual courses.
	These estimates represent fees charged to both UK citizens and other EU citizens, as all are charged the same fees.
	OFFA's remit applies only to English universities and colleges. As higher education is a devolved matter, information on tuition fees in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Government.

UK Trade and Investment: Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps UK Trade and Investment has taken to help export business in Morecambe and the surrounding area.

Michael Fallon: United Kingdom Trade & Investment (UKTI) are committed to helping companies in Morecambe and the surrounding area to start exporting, and to expand into new markets. Since April 2013 UKTI has provided bespoke support for 32 separate businesses in my hon. Friend's constituency, which includes nine companies on the Passport to Export international trade development programme. In this same time period, UKTI has delivered 1,714 services to 650 businesses across all of Lancashire.
	I would encourage all Morecambe businesses to take advantage of the support available from UKTI. There will be a range of free events across the North West during Export Week, 7 to 11 April, and throughout the International Festival for Business in Liverpool in June and July. We want to work with all MPs to participate in promotion events in their respective constituencies.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Electoral Register: Young People

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of those aged under 25 years in Northern Ireland are registered to vote.

Andrew Robathan: The estimated proportion of the eligible population registered in Northern Ireland in December 2013 was as follows:
	Under 20—64.7%
	20-29—78.2%
	We do not hold figures relating only to those under 25.

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by her Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Theresa Villiers: Because of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, my Department does not hold details for the periods prior to 2010; attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost. The contracts awarded by my Department since April 2010 are as follows:
	
		
			 Award Date Name of Contract Estimated Total Value (£) 
			 1 April 2013 Finance Platform—System Support Agreement 18,000 
			 2 July 2013 Finance Platform—Managed Service 6,000 
			 4 September 2013 Preventative Maintenance for Hillsborough Castle 9,500 
			 1 December 2013 Hillsborough Castle Gardening 50,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Award Date Name of Contract Estimated Annual Value (£) 
			 January 2013 File and Document Storage 40,000 
		
	
	The majority of contracts used by my Department are awarded by the Department of Finance and Personnel Central Procurement Directorate or the Central Government Procurement Service. These are generally awarded for a range of Northern Ireland Civil Service or Whitehall Departments which enable NIO to draw services from them.
	Should you wish to establish details of these contracts you should contact these organisations directly at the following addresses:
	DFP Central Procurement Directorate
	www.dfpni.gov.uk/cpd
	Central Government Procurement Service
	www.civilservice.gov.uk/networks/gps

WALES

GCSE and A-levels

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  how many students sat A-levels in (a) mathematics, (b) further mathematics, (c) physics, (d) chemistry and (e) biology in (i) Flintshire council area and (ii) Wrexham council area in (A) 2009 and (B) 2013;
	(2)  how many students obtained eight GCSE B grades or above in (a) Flintshire council area and (b) Wrexham council area in (i) 2009 and (ii) 2013.

David Jones: This information relates to a devolved matter and is not held by the UK Government. I have therefore written to the Minister for Education and Skills in the Welsh Government seeking the information requested.
	I will write to the hon. Gentleman when further information is received, and place a copy in the Library of the House.

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Stephen Crabb: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 2 April, Official Report, column 721W.

SCOTLAND

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

David Mundell: Other than minor or bespoke purchases, the Scotland Office does not undertake direct procurement or tendering projects. It utilises existing service contracts between suppliers and the Scottish Government or the Ministry of Justice. Since May 2010, only one contract has been issued directly by the Scotland Office. This was issued to the Royal Mail in 2011-12 for its role in providing candidates' free mailing in the Scottish Parliament election of 2011, the value of which was just over £6.4 million.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by her Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Helen Grant: Under this Government's transparency programme, contracts are published on Contracts Finder which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Sunrise Radio

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she has discussed with Ofcom the future of licences held by Sunrise; and if she will take steps to urge Ofcom to retender the Slough licence.

Edward Vaizey: I have had no discussions with Ofcom on this subject. Under the powers in the Communications Act 2003 the allocation of spectrum, licences and regulation of content for the commercial radio sector is the responsibility of the independent regulator Ofcom. It is a well-established principle that the Government does not intervene in the award of licences.

Telecommunications

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform the Electronic Communications Code.

Edward Vaizey: Since the Law Commission published its report on the reform of the Electronic Communications Code in February 2013, DCMS has been considering the implications of the recommendations on network roll out and service provision to consumers. In January 2014 we published an economic analysis of the impact of various wayleave valuation regimes. A copy of this report has been placed in the House of Commons Library. The analysis work is ongoing and I will make public the plans to reform the Electronic Communications Code in due course.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by her Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Lynne Featherstone: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to her by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 2 Apr 2014, Official Report, column 721W.

JUSTICE

Computer Misuse Act 1990

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2014, Official Report, column 209W, on the Computer Misuse Act 1990, how his Department measures compliance with the Government's cyber security strategy when rehabilitating and managing offenders convicted under the Computer Misuse Act 1990; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: Public protection is the first priority in offender management and it is rehabilitation that best secures this in the long-term. Those working with offenders may routinely assess risk and progress of sentenced offenders under supervision in the community or custody. These assessments will in turn inform offender management decisions regarding the interventions offered or controls applied to an individual.
	Progress against the Government's wider Cyber Security Strategy was published in December 2013.

Driving Offences

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders received a driving ban alongside a prison sentence of a longer length in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: When the courts impose a driving ban and a custodial sentence at the same time, they already make some allowance for the length of time that the offender would normally serve in prison before becoming eligible for release, in order to ensure that disqualification has the desired impact. There are provisions in the Coroner's and Justice Act 2009 which will give this statutory force. These will be commenced in due course.
	We want to make sure that road traffic offenders face the full consequences of the punishment for their offence. When an offender commits a serious road traffic offence that attracts both a custodial sentence and disqualification from driving, it is essential for public confidence in the criminal justice system that the driving ban has full effect on the offender; he should not benefit from, in effect, a reduction in the length of the ban whilst he serves time in prison. These provisions will ensure that, as now, the court will determine the appropriate length of the ban for the purposes of the offence but it will then be required to extend the ban to take account of time to be spent in prison. This will ensure that there is consistency of action in every case and that driving bans bear equally on all offenders.
	The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. This centrally held information records the period of disqualification into one of thirteen bands. As the exact length of driving ban is not available, it is not possibly to identify how many offenders received a driving ban alongside a prison sentence of a longer length. This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MOJ. As such, the information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Driving Offences

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders received a driving ban before the age of 17 in each of the last three years; and in what proportion of such cases the ban expired before the offenders' 17th birthday.

Jeremy Wright: The table sets out the number of driving disqualifications for all motoring offences at all courts, for offenders aged under 17 years, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2012 (the latest data available). It is not possible to provide the more detailed information requested without incurring disproportionate cost.
	A disqualification of an offender aged under 17 means they cannot apply for or be issued with a driving licence until their disqualification period has passed.
	
		
			 Number of disqualifications for all motoring offences at all courts, for offenders aged under 17 years, England and Wales, 2008-121 
			  Total disqualifications imposed 
			 2012 677 
			 2011 1,021 
			 2010 1,227 
			 2009 1,791 
			 2008 2,260 
			 1 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

Family Proceedings

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many parents represented themselves at court in child proceedings in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Shailesh Vara: Information on the legal representation of parties in family courts is available at a national level in table 2.4 of Court Statistics Quarterly the latest edition of which is available at this link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2013
	However, you should note that this information relates to whether parties have a recorded representative, rather than whether they are litigants in person. It is also based on the number of disposals, rather than parents, and cases may of course involve multiple disposals.
	Parties with no legal representation are not a new phenomenon in our courts. Judges are used to helping persons with no legal representation, including explaining procedures and what is expected of them. We have also taken steps to help people who either want or have to represent themselves in court, including publishing a revised guide for separating parents and increased training for judges. The link to the guide is:
	http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/cb7-eng.pdf

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what (a) gender, (b) religion or faith, (c) ethnicity and (d) grade of the staff in each prison in England and Wales was on 1 March in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The information requested on headcount of staff in each public sector prison, as at 31 March 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 and 31 December 2013, broken down by (i) gender, (ii) ethnicity (iii) religion and (iv) grade, has been placed in the House of Commons Library. Information on religion has only been available since 31 March 2013. These are the closest publication dates to the dates requested.
	We have maintained a consistent ratio of non-operational and operational staff since 2009 while we have been reforming and modernising the prison estate to ensure best value for the taxpayer, while also providing safe and secure prisons that deliver effective rehabilitation.
	We are committed to equal opportunities employment and are striving to improve the diversity of the work force, which has always proved a challenge due to factors such as regional patterns of ethnicity and the geographical isolation of prisons.

Prisoners

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what data his Department collects on the number of men in prison who have been victims of sexual abuse;
	(2)  what data his Department collects on the number of (a) men and (b) women in prison who had alcohol-related issues prior to conviction;
	(3)  what data his Department collects on the number of men and women in prison who have previously been in local authority care.

Jeremy Wright: Prisoners are assessed on entry to prison for addiction problems and there is a package of support available to them. The MOJ's Transforming Rehabilitation programme will provide individual support to all released prisoners. This will include identifying risks and needs for individual ex-prisoners, and providing services to address them.
	The Ministry of Justice does not collect these data centrally on a regular basis. However, a survey of 1,435 adult prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in 2005 and 2006 (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction—SPCR) provides self-reported estimates for each question.
	The full reports can be accessed on the gov.uk website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr

Prisoners: Publications

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what restrictions, by category of prisoner, are placed on access to (a) a prisoner's own books and (b) books from the prison library in the first four weeks of a prison sentence.

Jeremy Wright: Up to 12 books may be held by prisoners in their cell at any one time. Prisoners may have additional books stored locally at the prison. Every prison has a library, to which every prisoner has access.
	Access to books is not determined by category of prisoner and nor does it differ for those in the first four weeks of their sentence.

Probation

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he has taken to ensure that the probation contracts in England and Wales are let without risk to the public or waste of public money.

Jeremy Wright: Under our reforms the market will be opened up to a diverse range of new rehabilitation providers, so that we get the best out of the public, voluntary and private sectors, at the local as well as national level. Protecting the public must remain our top priority and the new National Probation Service will manage all offenders who pose a high risk of harm to the public or have committed the most serious offences. The Secretary of State will continue to issue national standards for the management of offenders, and the Government will place contractual requirements on Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) to ensure that the risk of harm posed by offenders is effectively managed. Providers bidding to run CRCs will need to demonstrate in their bids how they would deliver high quality rehabilitative support to offenders, and they will be held to account to deliver these services in their contracts. Bidders will also need to demonstrate how they will maintain a work force with appropriate levels of competence and training to deliver these services.
	Our proposals will be affordable within the context of the MOJ commitment to deliver annual savings of over £2 billion by 2014-15. We plan to make efficiency savings through the use of competition, the introduction of private and voluntary sector providers, and by consolidating back-office functions within the public sector. Releasing these efficiency savings will enable us to invest in rehabilitation and extend provision to support supervision to a wider group of offenders.

Probation

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the timetable is for the contracting-out of the Probation Service during 2014.

Jeremy Wright: Under our reforms the market will be opened up to a diverse range of new rehabilitation providers, so that we get the best out of the public, voluntary and private sectors, at the local as well as national level. A more diverse market of rehabilitation providers will bring innovation in rehabilitative services, helping to deliver a real reduction in reoffending rates. The process to establish the owners of the 21 new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) with responsibility for the provision of rehabilitation services is well under way. We will assess the bids we receive over the summer, and expect to sign contracts with new CRC owners later this year. We remain committed to seeing Payment by Results rolled out across the system by 2015.

Sentencing

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people given custodial sentences for non-payment of (a) a television licence, (b) vehicle excise duty and (c) council tax in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013 were sentenced to (A) up to three months, (B) up to six months, (C) up to 12 months and (D) over 12 months;
	(2)  how many people appearing in court for non-payment of (a) a television licence, (b) vehicle excise duty and (c) council tax in each year since 2010 were found (i) guilty and (ii) not guilty.

Jeremy Wright: The offences of using a TV receiver without a valid licence and of failure to hold a valid vehicle excise duty licence (tax disc) are not punishable by imprisonment, so offenders cannot be sentenced to custody for these offences. Failing to pay council tax is not a criminal offence.
	Offenders found guilty of TV licence or vehicle excise evasion may be sentenced to a fine. Failure to pay a fine can lead, following enforcement action and as a last resort, to committal to prison for fine default. Failure to pay council tax is pursued through the civil courts and can also lead, ultimately, to committal to prison.
	Data for receptions into prison for defaulting on the TV licence fine, in England and Wales, 2008 to 2012 can be viewed in Table 1. Receptions for defaulting on the vehicle excise duty fine cannot be separately identified.
	
		
			 Table 1: Fine defaulters received into prison for defaulting on fines imposed for using a TV without a valid licence: England and Wales, 2008-12 
			 Length to serve in respect of fine 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Less than or equal to three months 34 30 30 48 50 
			 Greater than three months, less than or equal to six months 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Data sources and quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. 
		
	
	Data in relation to failure to pay council tax are shown in Table 2.
	
		
			 Table 2 
			 Disposal 2010 2011 2012 20131 
			 Immediate imprisonment 122 104 106 81 
			 Committal warrant issued 1 5 1 0 
			 Totals 123 109 107 81 
			 1 To September. Notes: 1. This data has been extracted solely for the purposes of answering this question and has not been subject to data quality checks that would be applied for published statistics. 2. The date is based on case completion date. 3. The total figures include committal to prison, detention until court rises, imprisonment and imprisonment in default. 
		
	
	The number of defendants proceeded against in magistrates courts, and found guilty and sentenced in all courts for installing or using a television receiver without the appropriate licence, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012, can be viewed in Table 3.
	The number of defendants proceeded against in magistrates courts, and found guilty and sentenced in all courts, for keeping a motor vehicle on the highway without a current vehicle excise licence, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012, can be viewed in Table 4.
	
		
			 Table 3: Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences of installing or using a television receiver without the appropriate licence1, England and Wales, 2008 to 20122,3,4 
			 Outcome 20085 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Proceeded against 134,518 166,912 164,444 170,636 193,032 
			 Found guilty 120,785 148,853 142,375 149,230 164,918 
			 Sentenced 120,785 148,853 142,375 149,230 164,918 
			 1 An offence under S 363 of the Communications Act 2003. 2 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 4 The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. 5 Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 4: Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty and sentenced for keeping a motor vehicle on the highway without a current vehicle excise licence1, England and Wales 2008 to 20122,3,4 
			 Outcome 20085 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Proceeded against 84,187 67,995 58,729 46,530 32,700 
			 Found guilty 73,386 58,974 51,034 39,291 27,068 
			 Sentenced 73,385 58,974 51,034 39,291 27,068 
			 1 An offence under Section 29 (1-3) of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994. 2 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 4 The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown Court, may be sentenced in the following year. 5 Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Special Educational Needs

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2013, Official Report, columns 652-53W, on special educational needs, whether his Department has any plans in future to commence publishing figures on the proportion of hearings where (a) local authorities and (b) parents were legally represented.

Shailesh Vara: The Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) publish data on the First-tier Tribunal Special Educational Needs and Disability (FtT SEND) regularly in a quarterly internet publication which includes data on a number of other tribunals. Data for the academic year September 2012 to August 2013 were published in December 2013 and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2013
	The published data do not provide information on representation at hearings because the current IT system does not have the facility to record details of legal representation at the actual hearing. To change this position would incur cost which could not be justified by any benefit to HMCTS. Therefore, there are no plans to collect this information.

Television: Licensing

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what information (a) his Department and (b) HM Tribunals Service hold on the age of people (i) prosecuted and convicted for television licence evasion and (ii) imprisoned for non-payment of a fine for television licence evasion;
	(2)  what information (a) his Department and (b) HM Tribunals Service hold on the socio-economic status of people (i) prosecuted and convicted for television licence evasion and (ii) imprisoned for non-payment of a fine for television licence evasion;
	(3)  what information (a) his Department and (b) HM Tribunals Service hold on the gender of people (i) prosecuted and convicted for television licence evasion and (ii) imprisoned for non-payment of a fine for television licence evasion.

Jeremy Wright: No published information is available. The information in the table is taken from a live case management system. As such, it is subject to change and is not checked to the level of Official Statistics. No information is available in respect of socio-economic status of those prosecuted or convicted or imprisoned for non-payment of a fine in respect of television licence evasion. The Government has said that it will examine whether television licence evasion should be decriminalised.
	
		
			 Defendants prosecuted for and convicted of television licence evasion 
			  2013 
			  Prosecuted Convicted 
			 Female 122,966 106,835 
			 Male 55,291 46,004 
			 Not specified 565 417 
			    
			 Adult 178,767 153,233 
			 Youth 55 23 
			    
			 Total 178,822 153,256 
			 Notes: 1. These data are taken from a live case management system. 2. These data have been extracted to answer this specific query and are not checked to the same level as Official Statistics. 3. These data have been extracted based on completion date, data may change as court registers are validated.

Verne Prison

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his plans are for HMP The Verne.

Jeremy Wright: HM Prison The Verne started taking immigration detainees as scheduled from 24 March 2014. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) will retain The Verne as a prison in the short-term but its population will comprise immigration detainees as planned with the Home Office.
	NOMS intends to review the designation of The Verne later this year, with the intention of completing the re-designation to an immigration removal centre by the end of September 2014.
	All foreign national offenders (FNOs) sentenced to custody are referred to the Home Office for them to consider deportation at the earliest possible opportunity.
	The Ministry of Justice and the Home Office are committed to working together to expedite the removal of foreign criminals. NOMS will always supply sufficient prison places for those committed by the courts.

Working Hours

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of employees in his Department of what (a) Civil Service pay grade and (b) gender work (i) reduced hours, (ii) flexi-time, (iii) from home, (iv) a compressed working week, (v) job share, (vi) term-time only and (vii) part-time.

Shailesh Vara: The Ministry of Justice and its executive agencies HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and Legal Aid Agency (LAA) offer flexible working opportunities to all employees, not just those with family or caring responsibilities
	The table at annex A shows the proportion of officials within the Ministry of Justice with flexible working arrangements.
	
		
			 Annex A 
			 Percentage 
			 As at February: Description AA AO EO HEO SEO Grade 6/7 Senior Civil Service Grand Total Male Female Grand Total 
			 2014 Full Time 80 83 88 90 83 87 93 84 91 76 84 
			  (i) Reduced Hours/(vii) Part Time 19 15 10 7 14 8 4 14 7 20 14 
			  (iii) Home Working 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 
			  (iv) Compressed Hours 0 1 1 2 3 5 2 1 1 2 1 
			  (v) Job Sharing 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			  (vi) Term Time 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 
			  Total Staff in Post 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			              
			 2013 Full Time 82 86 88 89 84 88 93 86 91 79 86 
			  (i) Reduced Hours/(vii) Part Time 17 13 10 8 13 8 5 13 7 18 13 
			  (iii) Home Working 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			  (iv) Compressed Hours 0 1 1 2 2 3 2 1 1 1 1 
			  (v) Job Sharing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  (vi) Term Time 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			  Total Staff in Post 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			              
			 2012 Full Time 83 88 86 89 85 89 92 87 92 80 87 
			  (i) Reduced Hours/(vii) Part Time 16 11 12 8 12 7 4 12 7 17 12 
			  (iii) Home Working 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			  (iv) Compressed Hours 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 1 1 1 1 
			  (v) Job Sharing 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			  (vi) Term Time 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 
			  Total Staff in Post 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			              
			 2011 Full Time 84 89 90 92 87 90 90 89 94 83 89 
			  (i) Reduced Hours/(vii) Part Time 15 9 8 6 12 7 6 10 5 15 10 
			  (iii) Home Working 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  (iv) Compressed Hours 0 1 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 
			  (v) Job Sharing 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			  (vi) Term Time 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			  Total Staff in Post 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			              
			 2010 Full Time 84 90 91 93 88 91 93 89 95 83 89 
		
	
	
		
			  (i) Reduced Hours/(vii) Part Time 15 9 8 5 10 6 4 10 5 15 10 
			  (iii) Home Working 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  (iv) Compressed Hours 0 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 1 1 
			  (v) Job Sharing 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 
			  (vi) Term Time 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			  Total Staff in Post 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			 2010 includes: MOJ HQ, NOMS, HMCS, Tribunals Service, OPG, Scotland Office, Wales Office. 2011 includes: As for 2010. 2012 includes: MOJ HQ, NOMS, HMCTS, OPG (Scotland Office and Wales Office transferred to Office of the Territories from 1 April 2011). 2013 includes: As for 2012. 2014 includes: MOJ HQ, NOMS, HMCTS, OPG and LAA (LAA joined MOJ on 1 April 2013, following transition from NDPB (LSC) to an MOJ Executive Agency) Notes: 1. Data are as at the last day of February in each of the years 2010 to 2014. 2. Figures are on strength headcount. 3. Grades 6 and 7 have been amalgamated as it is not possible to split the two in the MOJ legacy system. 4. Reduced Hours includes Part Time. 5. Home Working includes staff who work at home full time and does not include staff who work from home one or two days a week. 6. Job share employees are also part time but have only been counted once in order to calculate proportions. 7. Term Time figures include Part Year workers and Term Time as we are unable to isolate term time workers only. 8. Staff with a working pattern of Partial Retirement have been mapped using their FTE. 9. Staff with a working pattern of Non-Fixed Hours have been mapped to Full Time/Part Time based on FTE 10. Staff with a working pattern of Regular Hours (non standard) have been mapped to Full Time/Part Time based on FTE.

Youth Custody

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of transporting children from London and the South East to secure children's homes elsewhere in the country in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Wright: The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is responsible for placing young people remanded or sentenced to custody in accordance with individual needs. The YJB recently announced that, reflecting the continued falls in the number of young people in custody, from April 2014 it would be reducing the number of beds it purchases in the Secure Children's Home sector.
	As the YJB is not invoiced for escorts to Secure Children's Homes on a regional basis, the YJB does not hold data on the costs of escorts for young people from London and the South East being transported to Secure Children's Homes in other regions. Invoice information also does not separate out the costs of escorts to Secure Children's Homes and Secure Training Centres which are delivered under the same contract. Although the YJB does hold data on where young people have been collected from, and transported to, this information is not routinely collated and to calculate the cost of individual journeys to Secure Children's Homes could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Youth Custody

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much capital investment there was in each secure estate establishment closed since May 2010 in the 12 months prior to the public announcement of the closure of that establishment; and what items were purchased at a cost in excess of £100,000 at each such establishment.

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not readily accessible. I will write to the right hon. Member when it is available.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2014, Official Report, column 162W, on employment and support allowance, when his Department expects to publish data on mandatory reconsiderations of employment and support allowance.

Michael Penning: While data is being collected, it is not sufficiently robust and reliable to make available.
	The data will need to be validated in order to ensure that it satisfies the relevant standards. I will not publish this data until it is in a robust state to share.

Employment: Learning Disability

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people registered with a learning disability were in (a) part-time and (b) full-time employment in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011, (iv) 2012 and (v) 2013.

Michael Penning: The information requested is within the table.
	
		
			 Individuals in full or part-time employment, who have health conditions/illnesses lasting 12 months or more and whose main health problem was severe or specific learning difficulties1, 2 
			  Full-time Part-time 
			 2009 45,000 34,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Estimates for 2010 onwards should not be compared directly with earlier years, due to a change in definitions3 
			 Year Full-time Part-time 
			 2010 42,000 34,000 
			 2011 34,000 29,000 
			 2012 36,000 39,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Estimates for 2013 onwards should not be compared directly with earlier years, due to a change in definitions4 
			  Full-time Part-time 
			 2013 26,000 34,000 
			 1 Source: Labour Force Survey (four-quarterly averages for each calendar year). 2 Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand. 3 Estimates of disability from the LFS for 2010 onwards should not be compared directly with earlier years. There was a change in the reporting behaviour of survey respondents at the start of 2010, mainly reflecting a change in the wording of the survey questionnaire, which is believed to result in more accurate estimates. 4 Further changes in 2013 to the wording of the disability questions within the survey questionnaire, have led to a step change in the levels of reported disability and their composition (eg numbers in employment). Therefore, estimates of disability from the Labour Force Survey for 2013 onwards should not be compared directly with earlier years.

Incapacity Benefit

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2013, Official Report, column 419W, on employment and support allowance, whether his Department expects to complete the incapacity benefit reassessment process in April 2014.

Michael Penning: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement I made on 27 March 2014, Official Report, columns 56-57WS.
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140327/wmstext/140327m0002.htm# 14032769000011

Occupational Pensions

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether people aged 55 years old and over enrolled in hybrid pension schemes will acquire the same right to access pension pots conferred upon those in defined contribution schemes; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what plans he has to provide that persons aged 55 years old and over enrolled in hybrid pension schemes will acquire the same rights to access pension pots accrued from additional voluntary contribution payments as holders of defined contribution pensions.

David Gauke: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	The Treasury is currently running a consultation, “Freedom of Choice in Pensions”, where it is considering how the new flexibilities should apply in the case of hybrid schemes.

Occupational Pensions

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the total value of funds held by pension providers on behalf of individuals who contracted out of the state earnings-related pension; and what arrangements will need to be made to allow people aged 55 years old and over to access such funds.

David Gauke: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	People who contracted out of the additional state pension will either have been in a defined benefit pension scheme between 1978 and the present day, or in a defined contribution scheme between 1988 and 2012.
	The greater flexibility and choice in pensions announced at the Budget will be available to those with defined contribution pensions, including those who have been contracted out.
	Those with public sector defined benefit pension wealth will not be able to benefit from increased flexibility. This is because the majority of public sector defined benefit schemes are unfunded and the costs of any large-scale transfers out of the schemes would probably have to be funded by higher contributions from members or through general taxation. The Government do not believe this would be fair.
	In principle, the Government would like to find a way to extend the flexibility to members of private sector defined benefit pension schemes. However, this decision is finely balanced and the Government intends to proceed with caution. We are currently consulting on this.
	The Government estimates that private sector defined benefit schemes hold around £1.1 trillion of assets, which they invest with the objective of generating a return to meet their obligation to scheme members.

Personal Independence Payment

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the performance of Atos in carrying out medical assessments for personal independence payments; and if he will review this contract following the recent announcement on the employment and support allowance work capability assessment contract.

Michael Penning: The Department's contracts with Atos Healthcare and Capita for the delivery of assessments for personal independence payment include a full set of service level agreements setting out the Department's expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department. We are closely monitoring their progress against these and are taking action to drive up performance where this does not meet the required standards.
	In particular, for both providers, the end-to-end process for many claimants is taking significantly longer than originally anticipated. We are working with the providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience.
	The contracts include a range of remedies which allow the Department to take action on minor as well as more significant poor performance and ultimately the Department has the right to terminate the contract if there is sustained underperformance.
	The contracts for personal independence payment assessments are entirely separate to the contract Atos Healthcare has for the delivery of assessments for employment and support allowance and other benefits.

Personal Independence Payment

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 318W, on Personal Independence Payment, what discussions he has had with providers about personal independence payment claim processing times.

Michael Penning: Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. We are closely monitoring their progress against the Department's expectations for service delivery, including claim processing times and are taking robust action to drive up performance where this does not meet the required standards.
	While, in line with other benefits, there are no statutory time limits on processing claims for PIP, we are working closely with our service providers to minimise the length of time claimants have to wait for assessments. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.

Personal Independence Payment

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 318W, on Personal Independence Payment, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of personal independence payment claim processing times.

Michael Penning: Personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit and processes are currently bedding in. There are no time limits or targets on processing times to claims for PIP.
	We recognise the new processes are taking longer than expected and we are taking robust action to improve these, including working closely with the providers to ensure performance expectations.

Personal Independence Payment

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what service level agreements his Department has with companies contracted to carry out the assessment process for the personal independence payment.

Michael Penning: The personal independence payment service level agreements are published and available to view in Deposited Papers (House of Commons), deposited on 28 January 2013-Deposit Reference DEP2013-0322. The service level agreements are set out in annex 7.
	This information can be accessed from the link:
	http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/?max=100&y=2013&search_term= Department+for+Work+and+Pensions&itemId =119004&sort=1&sortasc=False#toggle-322

Personal Independence Payment

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average waiting time is for applicants for personal independence payment in each region of the UK to be assessed by (a) Capita Health and Wellbeing and (b) Atos Healthcare in each region.

Michael Penning: Personal independence payment (PIP) started from April 2013 and although limited data has started to feed through, we need to wait until the Department has quality assured, meaningful figures for publication. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity. We intend to publish official statistics on PIP from spring 2014 in line with our publication strategy:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284330/pip_stats_release_strategy_feb14.pdf
	An ad-hoc release of PIP information was published on 11 February 2014.

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Michael Penning: I will place a copy of the document (PQ 14 194232 Top 20 and Bottom 20 Contracts 2009-2014) in the Library.

Remploy

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer 6 March 2014, Official Report, columns 971-72W, on Remploy, which businesses were sold; and whether profit from such sales has been passed back to HM Treasury.

Michael Penning: The automotive, filters, health care, e-cycle and CCTV managed services were the five businesses that were sold as part of Remploy's commercial process.
	The overall cost of the exit of the factory businesses included profits from the sales of the businesses with total costs estimated to be below budget.

Remploy

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research has been undertaken on the prospects of former Remploy factory workers who were made redundant in (a) 2007-08 and (b) phases 1 and 2 of the 2012-13 factory closures.

Michael Penning: The Department is not able to assess the prospects of former Remploy factory workers made redundant as part of the 2008 modernisation plan as this plan agreed by the previous Government did not include tracking processes.
	Before implementing the Sayce recommendations, the Government considered the lessons from implementation of the modernisation plan changes. This is why it introduced the £8 million guaranteed People Help and Support Package (PHSP) providing help for up to 18 months to disabled former Remploy workers and is tracking the support that this is providing. As at 21 March 2014, 1,513 disabled former Remploy workers are choosing to work with our personal case workers to find another job and 716 are in work.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which companies have entered into contracts to deliver community work placements in each region and country of the UK.

Esther McVey: The procurement exercise is still in progress. As a consequence, at this stage the information requested is not yet available and therefore cannot be disclosed.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Argentina

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what bilateral funding arrangements his Department has with (a) governmental and (b) non-governmental projects and bodies in Argentina.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA does not have any funding arrangements with either governmental or non-governmental projects or bodies in Argentina.

Drinking Water: Chlorine

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what his policy is on the use of chlorine as a disinfectant in drinking water; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  which water companies operating in the UK use alternatives to chlorine as a disinfectant in drinking water;
	(3)  what plans he has to encourage the use of alternatives to chlorine as a disinfectant in drinking water; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: By law, water companies are required to supply safe drinking water at the tap. Companies are free to choose the technology they use to treat water and in doing so are required to ensure it is correctly designed, operated and maintained. Increasingly a combination of filtration and ultra violet light is used by companies in England and Wales as an alternative to chlorine.

Trade Unions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA is currently reviewing the provision of check-off for trade union subscriptions.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2014, Official Report, columns 654-5, on electoral register, if the Electoral Commission will publish the results of all research it has conducted into the size of the electorate.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it publishes all of its completed research on electoral registration on its website, here:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/our-research/electoral-registration-research

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2014, Official Report, column 655W, on electoral register, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the reasons for the increase between December 2000 and April 2011 in the proportion of eligible people not registered at their current address.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has set out its analysis of the key reasons for the decline in levels of registration in this period in two reports—‘The completeness and accuracy of electoral registers in Great Britain’ and 'Great Britain's electoral registers'.
	Both reports can be found here:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/our-research/electoral-registration-research

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, columns 622-3W, on the Electoral Register: fraud, if the Electoral Commission will make an assessment of (a) the effect of the views of politicians and (b) statements by the Electoral Commission on public perception of electoral registration.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not have any current plans to carry out research to make such an assessment.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2013, Official Report, columns 455-6W, on the Electoral Register, for what reasons the electoral commission has no plans to undertake a direct assessment of registration rates in specific university towns and cities.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it will undertake analysis of the impact of the transition to IER for all local authorities, which will include all university towns and cities, throughout the transition period. This will include publishing data by local authority, and in some cases by electoral ward, at several points during the transition period.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2013, Official Report, columns 455-6W, on the Electoral Register, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Electoral Commission's review of public engagement strategies.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that its report, titled 'Readiness for the transition to Individual Electoral Registration' was published on 31 March with a copy placed in the House Library. The Commission's report includes the conclusions of its assessment of all electoral registration officers' (EROs') public engagement strategies, which found that all EROs have the right plans in place to identify the challenges for their particular local area and what mechanisms they will use to engage with residents to maximise registration. The Commission has also written to the hon. Member with a copy of its report.

Electoral Register: Fraud

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, columns 622-3W, on the Electoral Register: fraud, what comparative assessment he has made of the level of concern about electoral fraud in the UK and other EU countries.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it regularly monitors comparative international research on electoral matters. Comparing the UK with other countries around the world, Gallup polls place the UK in the top third of countries in terms of confidence in the honesty of the electoral process.
	The most recently available Gallup data from 2007-08, showed that 40% of UK respondents said they did not have confidence in the honesty of elections in the UK. This was slightly lower than the findings from Germany (44%) and Italy (43%), but significantly higher than those from Denmark (5%), Finland (8%) and Sweden (8%).
	Full findings are at the following link:
	http://www.gallup.com/poll/111691/Worldwide-Views-Diverge-About-Honesty-Elections.aspx

Electronic Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what research the Electoral Commission has commissioned into online voting.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it carried out and published extensive public opinion research and technical analysis to support its statutory evaluation of online voting pilot schemes between 2002 and 2007.
	The Commission has also included questions relating to online voting in its public opinion research. Most recently, the Commission's 2013 winter tracker public opinion survey found that among those not ‘very confident' that elections in Great Britain/Northern Ireland are well run, just over half (51%) think that making it possible to vote online would increase their confidence ‘a lot' or ‘a little'.
	The full winter tracker survey results can be found here:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/our-research/public-opinion-surveys
	The Commission will draw on this research and any other relevant evidence as it develops a strategy for modernising elections to further build on the advances that are already planned, such as the new online registration system that will be launched in the summer, and as set out in the Commission Chair's recent speech on this issue, which can be found on its website here:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/our-views/letters-and-speeches

Electronic Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the introduction of online voting in (a) Australia and (b) South Africa and its relevance to the UK.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it monitors developments in voting technology in other countries, including the limited online voting pilot schemes which have so far taken place at an individual state level in Australia. South African overseas voters can go online to register to vote, but cannot actually vote online.
	The Commission will continue to take account of relevant experience from other comparable democracies as it develops a strategy for modernising voting at elections in the UK.

TREASURY

Carbon Emissions

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the HM Revenue and Customs computable general equilibrium model used to assess the effect on GDP of illustrative policies to meet targets in the fourth carbon budget includes (a) avoided costs of flooding and damage caused by flooding as a result of climate change, (b) a carbon price, (c) avoided costs of air pollution and (d) macroeconomic effects of an increased take up of domestic and commercial energy efficiency.

Nicky Morgan: The scope of the analysis carried out by HM Revenue and Customs for DECC was to estimate the macroeconomic impact of the fourth carbon budget policies. The modelling therefore captured the macroeconomic effects of improvements in energy efficiency among households and businesses. It did not include the potential economic effects of any resulting reduction in environmental externalities, such as the avoided costs of flooding and avoided costs of air pollution as a result of the policies.
	The impact of the fourth carbon budget policies on the carbon price in the EU Emissions Trading System was taken into account in the modelling.

Economic Situation

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an assessment of the role played by the inequality of (a) wealth and (b) income in the 2007 financial crisis.

Nicky Morgan: The UK economy was hit by the most damaging financial crisis in generations, after a decade of growth built on unsustainable levels of debt.
	In the 10 years leading up to the financial crisis, UK disposable income inequality remained fairly flat. Since the financial crisis, UK income inequality has fallen to its lowest level since 1986. Robust data on wealth inequality over this same time period is not available. The causes of the financial crisis are complex, and the relationship between the crisis and trends in income and wealth inequality is unclear. The Government has not made an assessment of any role played by income and wealth inequality in the 2007 financial crisis.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the revenue likely to accrue to the Exchequer from the sale of EU Emissions Trading Scheme allowances in each year to 2021.

Nicky Morgan: The Office for Budget Responsibility published its forecast of total EU ETS auction accruals at Budget 2014, in table 4.5 of the Economic and Fiscal Outlook. No forecast is available beyond 2018-19.
	
		
			  £ billion 
			 2013-14 0.4 
			 2014-15 0.3 
			 2015-16 0.4 
			 2016-17 0.4 
			 2017-18 0.4 
			 2018-19 0.4

Import Duties: USA

John Healey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list by sector the amount of revenue received by the Exchequer as a result of tariffs on US imports in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: The table contains details of the total revenue collected on goods imported to the UK from the US since 2011. Customs duty is collected by HMRC on behalf of the EU; the Exchequer retains 25% of the customs duty. The figures shown below reflect the amount retained by the Exchequer.
	Data on imported goods is held for a maximum of four years by HMRC. The table therefore shows the available ‘complete years' data held on imported goods.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Tariff Section Year Customs duty VAT Excise duty Total revenue 
			 Live Animals and animal products 2011 631,976 8,294,576 0 8,926,552 
			  2012 596,875 10,063,831 0 10,660,706 
			  2013 735,032 8,403,964 0 9,138,996 
			       
			 Vegetable products 2011 2,469,849 5,137,908 0 7,607,757 
			  2012 2,500,283 4,636,966 0 7,137,249 
			  2013 2,484,395 5,155,240 0 7,639,636 
			       
			 Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes 2011 346,109 2,332,221 0 2,678,331 
			  2012 328,095 3,499,215 0 3,827,310 
			  2013 243,386 6,776,945 0 7,020,331 
			       
			 Prepared foodstuffs; beverages, spirits and vinegar; tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes 2011 9,175,624 36,878,166 15,482,696 61,536,486 
			  2012 10,061,361 44,608,780 13,323,909 67,994,050 
			  2013 8,819,083 42,353,711 15,304,722 66,477,517 
			       
			 Mineral products 2011 194,679 275,778,885 748,318 276,721,882 
			  2012 387,213 263,532,095 771,595 264,690,902 
			  2013 152,423 285,688,653 229,924 286,070,999 
			       
			 Products of the chemical or allied industries 2011 13,330,663 887,808,799 193,489 901,332,952 
			  2012 11,215,150 796,710,681 234,099 808,159,930 
			  2013 9,792,411 633,489,405 289,658 643,571,474 
			       
		
	
	
		
			 Plastic and articles thereof; rubber and articles thereof 2011 9,536,247 170,294,453 49,936 179,880,635 
			  2012 9,551,596 175,746,796 26,736 185,325,128 
			  2013 9,829,685 178,057,238 14,530 187,901,453 
			       
			 Raw Hides and skins, leather, furskins and articles thereof, saddlery and harness, travel goods, handbags and similar containers; articles of animal gut (other than silk-worm gut) 2011 217,938 5,123,231 0 5,341,169 
			  2012 238,440 5,457,593 0 5,696,033 
			  2013 243,034 5,563,890 0 5,806,925 
			       
			 Wood and articles of wood, wood charcoal; cork and articles of cork, manufacturers of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials; basketware and wickerwork 2011 79,172 31,893,727 0 31,972,899 
			  2012 58,681 39,643,493 0 39,702,175 
			  2013 63,245 66,218,363 0 66,281,608 
			       
			 Pulp of wood or of other fibrous cellulosic material, recovered (waste and scrap) paper or paperboard; paper and paperboard and articles thereof 2011 247 83,012,394 0 83,012,642 
			  2012 0 83,458,805 0 83,458,805 
			  2013 0 71,081,140 0 71,081,140 
			       
			 Textile and textile articles 2011 4,982,597 56,519,095 0 61,501,692 
			  2012 5,664,839 58,727,449 0 64,392,288 
			  2013 5,589,960 62,386,176 0 67,976,136 
			       
			 Footwear, headgear, umbrellas, sun umbrellas, walking sticks, seat sticks, whips, riding crops and parts thereof, prepared feathers and articles made therewith; artificial flowers, articles of human hair 2011 331,987 5,278,349 0 5,610,336 
			  2012 405,647 6,108,647 0 6,514,294 
			  2013 464,333 7,051,280 0 7,515,613 
			       
			 Articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, mica or similar materials, ceramic products, glass and glassware 2011 1,131,279 34,414,784 0 35,546,063 
			  2012 1,067,568 44,188,965 0 45,256,533 
			  2013 1,352,463 56,037,392 0 57,389,855 
			       
			 Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metals clad with precious metal, articles thereof; imitation jewellery, coin 2011 824,426 138,251,104 0 139,075,531 
			  2012 883,057 135,370,015 0 136,253,072 
			  2013 929,823 136,793,895 0 137,723,717 
			       
			 Base metals and articles of base metal 2011 5,814,766 191,579,057 0 197,393,823 
			  2012 6,174,921 201,418,984 0 207,593,905 
			  2013 5,536,881 177,157,506 0 182,694,387 
			       
		
	
	
		
			 Machinery and mechanical Appliances; electrical equipment, parts thereof, sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and producers, and parts and accessories of such articles 2011 17,105,273 981,277,821 0 998,383,094 
			  2012 17,669,533 973,207,806 0 990,877,339 
			  2013 17,280,080 937,480,832 0 954,760,912 
			       
			 Vehicles, aircraft, vessels and associated transport equipment 2011 3,691,123 184,852,540 0 188,543,663 
			  2012 3,376,047 176,651,930 0 180,027,978 
			  2013 3,320,221 283,567,009 0 286,887,231 
			       
			 Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; clocks and watches; musical instruments; parts and accessories thereof. 2011 3,816,670 314,934,527 0 318,751,197 
			  2012 3,857,195 311,309,896 0 315,167,091 
			  2013 3,924,027 329,135,879 0 333,059,906 
			       
			 Arms and ammunition, parts and accessories thereof 2011 96,416 20,978,981 0 21,075,397 
			  2012 94,699 29,049,688 0 29,144,387 
			  2013 99,196 13,797,980 0 13,897,176 
			       
			 Miscellaneous manufactured articles 2011 1,577,066 71,900,958 0 73,478,024 
			  2012 1,531,145 71,074,747 0 72,605,892 
			  2013 1,583,164 71,887,396 0 73,470,559 
			       
			 Works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques 2011 1,735 20,151,738 0 20,153,473 
			  2012 1,023 28,089,055 0 28,090,078 
			  2013 372 23,597,645 0 23,598,017 
			       
			 Personal property and effects, coffins containing bodies, funeral urns containing ashes and ornamental funerary articles and goods for charitable or philanthropic organisations, goods for the benefit of disaster victims 2011 579 3,747,917 0 3,748,496 
			  2012 0 3,443 0 3,443 
			  2013 0 418,737 0 418,737

Income Tax: Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Brigg and Goole constituency pay income tax at (a) 20 per cent, (b) 40 per cent and (c) 45 per cent.

David Gauke: Estimates of the number of taxpayers at each income tax rate band are published in HMRCs National Statistics which are available on the internet.
	The figures at UK level are published in table 2.1 at the following address.
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-statistics/table2-1.pdf
	Breakdowns by country and region are published in table 2.2 at the following address with Yorkshire and the Humber shown on page 2.
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-statistics/table2-2.pdf
	Projected estimates at parliamentary constituency level would not be reliable or statistically robust.

Pensions

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the planned changes to pensions on the operating budget of (a) the Money Advice Service and (b) the Pensions Advisory Service.

David Gauke: The Government is currently consulting on how best to deliver the ‘at retirement guidance guarantee' announced at Budget through its consultation 'Freedom and Choice in Pensions'.
	The Government has been clear that the onus to provide at retirement guidance will be on pension providers and has made a £20 million development fund available to get the initiative up and running.
	The budgets of the Money Advice Service (MAS) and Pensions Advisory Service (tPAS) are based on annual forecast of consumer need and demand for advice.

Pensions

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish his Department's analysis of the potential risk to (a) the economy and (b) the prospects for long-term investment arising from the changes to the taxation regime for pensions.

David Gauke: The Government published a consultation, “Freedom of Choice in Pensions” alongside Budget 2014, where it is considering how the planned changes could potentially impact on investment in the wider economy.

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Nicky Morgan: Under this Government's transparency programme, contracts are published on Contracts Finder which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

State Retirement Pensions

Mark Reckless: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to pensions on the level of net migration and the number of over-55s who may emigrate; and what analysis his Department has made of the effect of this policy on the likelihood of meeting the target of reducing net migration to under 100,000 by 2015.

Nicky Morgan: The Government has not made any assessment of the effect of changes to pensions on migration levels.

Tax Avoidance

Mike Freer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Government's response to the consultation Tackling marketed tax avoidance will be published.

David Gauke: The Government's response was published on 27 March 2014:
	www.gov.uk

Trade Unions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision.

Nicky Morgan: HM Treasury regularly reviews all HR policies.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

All Party Groups

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his Department's policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 26 March 2014, Official Report, column 300W.

Bellwin Scheme

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of local authorities which registered for emergency financial assistance under the Bellwin Scheme as a result of recent flooding have received payment within 15 working days.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 31 March 2014
	Bellwin provides emergency financial assistance to local authorities to help them meet uninsurable costs they incur when responding to a major emergency in their area. The level of funding over time is casually linked to the scale of flooding or other emergency. It operates by local authorities retrospectively claiming spending back.
	As at 27 March 2014, only five local authorities have submitted Bellwin claims in respect of the recent flooding. One of these claims was paid within 15 days. The other four claims have only been received in the last few days and should also be paid within 15 days. Local authorities have until the end of June 2014 to apply.

Community Infrastructure Levy

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the likely effect of the Community Infrastructure Levy (Amendment) Regulations 2014 on the amount of Community Infrastructure Levy collected.

Nicholas Boles: Over the next 10 years it is estimated that the average annual Community Infrastructure Levy revenues could be in excess of £450 million. This is based on forecasts of the latest household projections and that adoption rates of the levy will steadily increase over the next few years, leading to a rise in overall levy revenues. We now have 30 charging schedules in place and anticipate a further 10 to be adopted by early June 2014.

Fire Services

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the effect of reductions in local government spending on the effectiveness of fire brigades.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 31 March 2014
	Fire and rescue authorities are best placed to assess and manage their services and do this through integrated risk management planning. Fire and rescue authorities now attend 46% fewer incidents than 10 years ago and they allocate their resources according to local risk.
	There is still scope for fire and rescue authorities to make sensible savings, eg through reforms to flexible staffing and crewing arrangements, better procurement; shared services, collaboration with emergency services and other organisations on service delivery and estates, sickness management; sharing of senior staff, locally led mergers and operational collaborations, new fire-fighting technology, preventative approaches and working with local businesses.
	In his independent review, Sir Ken Knight concluded that fire and rescue authorities need to transform themselves to reflect the entirely different era of risk and demand they now operate in.

Fire Services: Floods

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the role of firefighters in responding to the recent floods.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 31 March 2014
	More than 1,000 firefighters from across the country assisted with the flood response over December, January and February. We are extremely grateful for the work that they did to reduce water levels and help communities deal with the flooding.

Fire Services: Pensions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to change the contribution rates to the Firefighters Pension Scheme.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 31 March 2014
	The Government response to the consultation on employee contribution rates to apply in the Firefighters' Pension Schemes from 1 April 2014 was published on 6 March alongside the amending regulations. The Government response can be found at
	www.gov.uk/government/consultations/firefighters-pension-scheme-1992-and-new-firefighters-pension-scheme-2006

Fire Services: Retirement

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the appropriateness of the current recommended age of retirement for firefighters.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 31 March 2014
	An independent review for the Firefighters' Pension Committee in 2013 found that, under current practices, firefighters would be operationally fit at age 60 if they maintain a physically active and healthy lifestyle, One in three members of a firefighters' pension scheme is in the New Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2006, which already has a Normal Pension Age of 60. The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 set the Normal Pension Age for the reformed firefighters' pension scheme to be age 60 from 2015, in line with the recommendation from Lord Hutton's independent report.
	A firefighter with a full career earning £29,000 will be able to retire at age 60 with a pension of £19,000 per annum. Firefighters will be able to retire before the scheme's Normal Pension Age with an actuarial reduction.

Homes and Communities Agency

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on devolution of Homes and Communities Agency assets to (a) combined authorities and (b) local enterprise partnerships.

Kris Hopkins: In disposing of its assets the Homes and Communities Agency is guided by value for money principles; disposals are expected to be at market value for land and other assets in order to protect public investment. The Homes and Communities Agency are open to considering proposals for joint working that will promote development, economic activity and growth.
	These assets were bought by the national taxpayer and therefore the receipts are deployed nationally. Receipts are reinvested to help finance other Government housing and regeneration programmes, as well as fund a range of historic legal commitments and liabilities on land inherited by the Homes and Communities Agency from other bodies (including the liabilities left by the former Regional Development Agencies).
	I would add that neither combined authorities or Local Enterprise Partnerships have responsibility for housing; we should avoid 'function creep' which would dilute their focus and/or centralise and take power away from local councils (both as local housing authorities and as local planning authorities).

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent assessment is of the success of the zero carbon homes policy; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Williams: Budget 2014 reaffirmed the Government's commitment to implement zero carbon homes from 2016. In Growth Review 2011 we set out a fair, practical and cost-effective approach to zero carbon homes. This made house builders responsible for abating the carbon from energy use from systems which they can control—heating and hot water systems and building services—not the energy use from appliances which they cannot be expected to control. We are taking forward the zero carbon homes policy through a staged approach of steadily strengthening the energy performance requirements in the building regulations and through the introduction of cost-effective options for off-site carbon reductions—‘Allowable Solutions'. Under this Government the energy performance requirements for new homes, the latest of which come into force on 6 April 2014, have been strengthened by around 30% from the previous 2006 standard saving house holder's fuel bills and cutting carbon emissions.

Housing: Fires

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many deaths in fires in domestic properties in England there were in each year since 1999.

Brandon Lewis: The number of fatal casualties from fires in domestic properties in England has reduced by 42% from 1998-99 to 2012-13. The data for each year is provided in the following table.
	The Government remains committed to ensuring the fire safety of people in their own homes. The Department's long-running fire safety campaign—established in 1988 and re-branded as Fire Kills in 1999—is delivered in partnership with fire and rescue authorities across England. The award-winning campaign promotes a range of fire safety messages, primarily around the importance of working smoke alarms, to help drive down the number of fires and associated casualties.
	
		
			 Fatalities in dwelling fires in England 
			  Number 
			 1998-99 361 
			 1999-2000 343 
			 2000-01 336 
			 2001-02 355 
			 2002-03 307 
			 2003-04 333 
			 2004-05 277 
			 2005-06 280 
			 2006-07 259 
			 2007-08 275 
			 2008-09 255 
			 2009-10 252 
			 2010-11 252 
			 2011-12 233 
			 2012-13 211

Local Government: Pensions

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the need for local authority pension schemes to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into their investment decision-making.

Brandon Lewis: These issues are matters for individual local authorities that administer pension funds to consider when deciding upon their investment strategies. Each administering authority is required to publish a statement of principles, which should address such issues. Statutory guidance states that the authority must report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of their policies.
	Notwithstanding, local authorities need to focus on delivering a good rate of return for their fund and value for taxpayers, given local government pensions cost taxpayers (via employer contributions) almost £6 billion a year.

Local Government: Pensions

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to encourage local authority pension funds to become active owners or stewards of their assets as defined in the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to encourage local authority pension funds to become signatories to the Stewardship Code.

Brandon Lewis: Each local authority that administers a pension fund is already subject to statutory guidance that states that it should recognise the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code and ensure that the code is adopted by their fund managers, investment consultants and advisers. The guidance also states that the authority should include a statement of its policy on responsible ownership in its statement of the principles governing its investment decisions and report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of the policy. 16 of the 89 local government pension funds in England and Wales are themselves signatories to the Stewardship Code as asset owners.

Parish Councils

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress he has made on measures to allow town and parish councils to send agendas electronically.

Brandon Lewis: Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires local authorities (both principal and parish councils) to send summonses to attend meetings by post. Reflecting the take-up of digital communications, Ministers are minded to issue an Order under Section 8 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 to facilitate this being done electronically; although we do believe that councillors should continue to have a right to receive communications in hard copy by post should they wish, and that this should be reflected in any legislative change.
	We will be undertaking an informal sounding shortly on the wording of any draft Order with key partners, including the Local Government Association and the National Association of Local Councils.

Planning

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to support local planning authorities in (a) improving the viability of brownfield sites and (b) restarting stalled developments.

Nicholas Boles: The information is as follows:
	Kick-starting stalled developments
	This Government has introduced a series of measures to support stalled house building. These include:
	The Get Britain Building investment fund, providing over £500 million of finance which has so far helped start 11,893 new homes on stalled sites (as of February 2014).
	The Growing Places Fund is providing £770 million to deliver the infrastructure needed to unlock stalled schemes that will promote economic growth, create jobs and build homes. The fund has been fully allocated to local enterprise partnerships and the devolved Administrations to fund local projects.
	The £474 million local infrastructure fund investment fund is supporting the delivery of upfront infrastructure for locally-supported, large scale housing sites and commercial development; it also provides capacity funding and brokerage support to local authorities to help them progress major schemes through the planning process. Nearly 80,000 homes have been unlocked on 15 different sites. A further 13 schemes are currently being assessed for investment, which we believe have the potential to deliver nearly 40,000 homes.
	The autumn statement committed an additional £1 billion of local infrastructure fund funding to unlock locally-led housing schemes capable of delivering up to a further 250,000 new homes, and a second round prospectus will be published in due course.
	The Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 enables developers with any Section 106 agreement to apply for a review of the affordable housing component to ensure development is not being made unviable by unrealistic requirements. Such unviable Section 106 agreements result in no development, no regeneration and no community benefits: a sensible review can result in more housing and more affordable housing.
	As the housing market has improved, we have ended the temporary measure (introduced by the last Administration) which allowed developers to roll forward their planning permissions; this ending of the measure will increase the incentive for developers to start on site before permission expires.
	We are also seeking to tackle the inappropriate use of planning conditions and speed up the process of gaining non-planning consents.
	The Budget announced a £525 million builders' finance fund to assist small and medium-sized developers to access finance to support the delivery of housing schemes of between 15 and 250 units, helping kick-start stalled sites and deliver around 15,000 units over four years.
	Supporting development on brownfield land
	Freeing up brownfield land for regeneration and development is a key priority for my Department. Our actions include:
	We have amended planning regulations to make it easier to change the use of an existing building from commercial to residential use, retail to residential use and agricultural to residential use. Permitted development rights have been expanded, including for flats above shops and allowing for new temporary uses. The Budget announced our intention to further extend these flexibilities.
	The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning should encourage the effective use of land by re-using brownfield land provided that it is not of high environmental value, and that local councils can set locally appropriate targets for using brownfield land. We have also amended planning practice guidance to stress the importance of bringing brownfield land into use.
	We have abolished the last Government's Pathfinder programme which sought to demolish homes and instead we have focused on refurbishment and getting empty homes into use. We are investing £160 million specifically to bring empty homes back into use. The New Homes Bonus rewards long-term empty homes being brought back into use and we have given councils the flexibility to remove tax subsidies given to empty homes, and use the money to keep the overall rate of council tax down. The number of empty homes in England has fallen to its lowest rate ever according to the Empty Homes Agency.
	My Department has been supporting the Olympic legacy, driving renewal and regeneration in east London, replacing over 740 acres of polluted, low-grade industrial land and premises with new sports and community facilities, parks, homes, shops and transport infrastructure.
	We are working with the Mayor of London to unlock the construction of 11,000 new homes at Barking Riverside, and extend transport infrastructure.
	A new garden city will be delivered on brownfield land in Ebbsfleet, supported by an Urban Development Corporation and up to £200 million of public investment. The last Administration pledged in its 2003 Sustainable Communities Plan to regenerate Ebbsfleet but failed to deliver.
	The new Right to Contest builds on our existing Community Right to Reclaim Land, which lets communities ask that under-used or unused land owned by public bodies is brought back into beneficial use. This new right applies to sites currently in use, but are not vital for operations. It gives businesses and members of the public an opportunity to challenge government on the best use of its estate.
	We have a comprehensive programme to sell surplus public sector land and property, freeing up taxpayers' money and providing land for new homes. As at the end of December we had released surplus government-owned land with capacity for 68,000 homes to be built. We have strengthened the role of the Homes and Communities Agency through a targeted programme of transfers from other Government Departments and agencies. In addition, to ensure land is released efficiently, the Homes and Communities Agency will be Government's land disposal agency. This builds on the Homes and Communities Agency's expertise and experience of complex land remediation and disposals as well as their close relationships with local planning authorities.
	Through the Strategic Land and Property Review we have identified scope to generate £5 billion of receipts from government land and property between 2015 and 2020. This will put land and property into the hands of those who can exploit them for commercial purposes—creating opportunities for housing and economic development.
	Changes to Community Infrastructure Levy rules now provide an increased incentive for brownfield development, and extended exemptions for empty buildings being brought back into use. We have recently published a consultation paper to lift Section 106 burdens on vacant buildings being returned to use.
	The Budget announced an Estate Regeneration fund which will provide £150 million to help kick start and accelerate the regeneration of housing estates.
	I hope this outlines the decisive action that this Government is taking.

Planning Permission: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful planning appeals have been made against (i) Stockport metropolitan borough council and (ii) Tameside metropolitan borough council in each year since 2010.

Nicholas Boles: Planning is a quasi-judicial process; it is a long-standing feature of the planning system that there is a right of appeal, just as there are with other local quasi-judicial decisions such as on licensing applications, gambling applications or parking fines.
	The table shows planning appeal decisions by calendar year. To assist public scrutiny, I have provided comparative figures for a similar period before 2010.
	
		
			 Council Calendar year Allowed Split Dismissed Total 
			  2007 20 3 27 50 
			  2008 15 1 29 45 
			  2009 19 0 28 47 
			 Stockport 2010 14 0 18 32 
		
	
	
		
			  2011 5 0 8 13 
			  2012 3 0 10 13 
			  2013 8 0 9 17 
			  2007 15 2 21 38 
			  2008 7 0 15 22 
			  2009 8 0 11 19 
			 Tameside 2010 3 0 12 15 
			  2011 8 0 5 13 
			  2012 2 0 5 7 
			  2013 2 0 10 12 
		
	
	While the precise number of appeals will fluctuate from year to year, this table shows that the absolute number of appeals both (a) received and (b) allowed has fallen in recent years.

Planning Permission: Staffordshire

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning appeals resulted in local authority decisions being overturned by the planning inspector in South Staffordshire in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013.

Nicholas Boles: Planning is a quasi-judicial process; it is a long-standing feature of the planning system that there is a right of appeal, just as there are with other local quasi-judicial decisions such as on licensing applications, gambling applications or parking fines.
	The following table shows planning appeal decisions by calendar year for South Staffordshire district council. To assist public scrutiny, I have provided comparative figures for a similar period before 2010.
	
		
			 Calendar year Allowed Split Dismissed Total 
			 2007 25 0 37 62 
			 2008 27 1 53 81 
			 2009 14 0 26 40 
			 2010 18 0 35 53 
			 2011 19 0 33 52 
			 2012 16 0 26 42 
			 2013 8 0 22 30 
		
	
	While the precise number of appeals will fluctuate from year to year, this table shows that the number of appeals both (a) received and (b) allowed has fallen in recent years.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps are being taken to ensure that the legal costs accrued over the closure of the traveller site in Fylde are recovered from the travellers.

Brandon Lewis: The High Court and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Secretary of State to dismiss the planning appeal and uphold the enforcement notice in relation to an unauthorised traveller site at Fairfield Road, Hardhorn.
	My Department seeks to recover the costs of litigation from the other parties where this is appropriate, and I can confirm that we will be seeking to do so in this case.
	Fylde borough council may also seek to do the same through due legal process; however, this is a matter for the council rather than my Department.

Working Hours

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of employees in his Department of each (a) civil service pay grade and (b) gender work (i) reduced hours, (ii) flexi-time, (iii) from home, (iv) a compressed working week, (v) job share, (vi) term-time only and (vii) part-time.

Brandon Lewis: The proportion of Department staff currently working reduced hours by civil service pay grade is as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage part-time 
			 Administrative officer 8.7 
			 Executive Officer 11.4 
			 Higher Executive Officer 10.3 
			 Fast Stream 2.1 
			 Senior Executive Officer 12.5 
			 Grade 7 14.8 
			 Grade 6 10.0 
			 All senior civil servants 12.5 
			 Total 11.7 
		
	
	The proportion of Department staff currently working reduced hours by gender is as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage part-time 
			 Male 2.7 
			 Female 20.3 
			 Total 11.7 
		
	
	With regards to flexi-time, the Department operates a flexible working hours system of attendance under which managers may agree that staff work flexibly within certain set hours. This policy applies to all non-senior civil service staff at all office locations and is subject to operational need.
	The Department does not hold a central record of staff working from home, a compressed working week, job share, and term-time only. These arrangements are agreed between managers and staff and may reflect very short-term arrangements as well as those of a more enduring nature. As home working and compressed hours arrangements do not impact on pay or employment terms these arrangements are not recorded on the Department's central HR system. Where job share and term-time arrangements have an impact on pay or employment terms and conditions these staff are recorded as part-time on the Department's central HR system.
	The Department's definition of part-time working is the same as reduced hours and so the above proportions still apply.

EDUCATION

Ad-Deen School Ilford

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what reports he has received about teaching standards and education at Ad-Deen Primary School, Ilford; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: The last report received by the Secretary of State for Education relating to teaching standards and education at Ad-Deen Primary School was from Ofsted following their inspection of the school on 19-20 January 2011. This judged the school to be satisfactory for curriculum, teaching and assessment.

Cancer: Health Education

Mike Thornton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  if he will make cancer awareness education a statutory requirement in schools;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of cancer awareness education in schools.

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will include cancer awareness education as part of the national curriculum in personal, social and health education.

Elizabeth Truss: Cancer awareness is important for all young people. However, I do not believe that there should be a statutory requirement for it to be taught in schools. The Government aims to reduce prescription throughout the education system, and trusts schools to provide what is best for their students. The Department for Education does not collect data on this topic.
	Schools are free to teach cancer awareness when it is relevant to the national curriculum. For example, the science curriculum requires pupils to learn about the effects of drugs on their bodies, and the importance of physical activity and a healthy lifestyle is included in the requirements for physical education. In design and technology, schools may highlight the importance of nutrition and a healthy diet. Schools may include cancer awareness as part of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, using suitable resources from relevant organisations. The PSHE Association has produced a suggested programme of study as guidance for teachers, and continues to highlight other sources of expertise.

Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many serious case reviews have been (a) commissioned and (b) published since June 2010.

Edward Timpson: 302 serious case reviews (SCRs) have been commissioned by local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs) and notified to the Department for Education since June 2010. 114 have been published.
	
		
			  Serious case reviews commissioned Serious case reviews published1 
			 10 June 2010 to 31 March 2011 52 0 
			 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 55 12 
			 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 81 31 
			 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 114 71 
			    
			 Total 302 114 
		
	
	136 SCRs are currently in progress. 30 SCRs have been notified as not for publication due to compelling reasons related to the welfare of the children directly related to these cases.
	22 SCRs have been completed and have not yet been published due to outstanding police investigations, criminal proceedings and welfare issues.
	We have set up a national panel of independent experts who will advise and challenge LSCBs on any case where an LSCB has concerns about the publication of an SCR report and/or intends not to publish an SCR report.
	1 Overview reports only. These figures do not include executive summaries published during this period.

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress has been made on implementing the early help recommendation of the Munro Review.

Edward Timpson: In respect of Professor Munro's recommendation on introducing a duty to secure provision of early help services, the Government has concluded there is sufficient legislation in place to deliver early help services to children and families. The Department for Education will continue to work with sector partners to reinforce existing legislation and understand how early help offers in local areas can be improved.

Curriculum

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what requirements there are for academies and free schools to publish their curriculum for prospective parents; and what form that must take.

Edward Timpson: Academy trusts that have a funding agreement published pre-July 2010 are required to publish an annual prospectus, which includes details of the curriculum offered. Since July 2011, the funding agreement with each academy or free school has included a requirement to publish details of their curriculum.

Curriculum

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to increase freedoms for special schools to design their own curriculum.

Edward Timpson: The new national curriculum, to be taught from September 2014, sets out only the essential knowledge that all children should acquire, and leaves teachers to decide how to teach this most effectively and to design a wider school curriculum that best meets the needs of their pupils.
	For all pupils with special educational needs (SEN), including those who attend special schools, lessons should be planned to ensure that there are no barriers to achievement. In many cases, such planning will mean that these pupils will be able to study the full national curriculum.
	The SEN Code of Practice includes statutory guidance on identifying and supporting pupils with SEN and adapting teaching approaches to ensure they have access to the same opportunities as their peers.

Jimmy Savile

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which establishments are being investigated in relation to historical abuse by Jimmy Savile.

Edward Timpson: The Secretary of State for Education's statement to the House of 27 March provided a list of children's homes and schools that are mentioned in the information passed to the Department for Education, and which are now being investigated. The statement is available at:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140327/wmstext/140327m0001.htm# 14032769000024

Sixth Form Colleges

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to ensure long-term capital funding for sixth form colleges.

David Laws: The 2013 spending round confirmed the levels of capital funding that the Department for Education will receive between 2015 and 2021. This settlement will enable the Department to develop a long-term approach, allowing us to consider making allocations over a number of years, which would help schools, sixth-form colleges and their responsible bodies to plan with greater confidence.
	I am clear that in future years our funding should be better targeted to where it is most needed, and it is for this reason that the Department is currently collecting up to date information on the condition of school buildings, including sixth-form colleges, through a comprehensive survey. This survey is due to be completed by the summer and it is our intention that the results will be used to inform the allocation of capital maintenance funding from 2015-16.

Teachers: Training

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many graduates have entered teaching since 2007 in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) England and Wales.

David Laws: The Department for Education does not hold data for the number of graduates entering teaching within Brigg and Goole constituency as data are not collected on graduates entering teaching at the constituency level.
	The numbers of graduates entering teaching since 2007 in England is published in Sector Level Reports found on the National College for Teaching and Leadership website:
	http://dataprovision.education.gov.uk/public/page.htm?to-page=publicOpencmsStaticPage&cms-page-id=tta-public/en/publicAdditionalReports/sectorLevelReports.html
	A summary of this information can be found in Table 1.
	The Department does not hold data for the number of graduates entering teaching within Wales as education in Wales is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of trainees awarded qualified teaching status (QTS) in teaching employment within six months, by academic year, in England 
			 Academic year Number of teachers 
			 2011/121 27,570 
			 2010/11 26,546 
			 2009/10 27,976 
			 2008/092 21,692 
			 2007/082 21,839 
			 2006/072 22,177 
			 1 Figures for 2011/12 have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2 Employment based initial teacher training (EBITT) figures are not included.

Teachers: Veterans

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many service leavers have (a) applied to and (b) been accepted on the Troops to Teachers programme to date.

David Laws: The Troops to Teachers undergraduate programme is a brand new programme, which started in January 2014. It provides a route into teaching for non-graduates with relevant skills and experience. It is a school-based two year programme, at the end of which service leavers will have both a degree and Qualified Teacher Status.
	982 service leavers submitted an initial application to cohort 1 of the new undergraduate Troops to Teachers programme. 332 of these applications went forward to be considered by the initial teacher training provider, which is the normal first stage for initial teacher training applications. 41 service leavers joined the Troops to Teachers programme in January 2014.
	These figures represent only the first cohort of Troops to Teachers trainees. We are looking forward to more service leavers joining the programme this September.

HEALTH

Abortion

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2014, Official Report, column 949W, on abortion, how many Ground E terminations were permitted due to a sex-linked inherited condition in the foetus in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Jane Ellison: This information is not available.

Ambulance Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of ambulance service category A 8-minute responses were initially met by (a) a team and vehicle capable of providing patient transport, (b) first or co-responders and (c) paramedics using a motorbike or car in the last 12 months.

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected centrally.
	This information is held by individual ambulance trusts. There are 11 ambulance trusts in England:
	Isle of Wight NHS Trust;
	East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust;
	East Of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust;
	London Ambulance Service NHS Trust;
	North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust;
	North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust;
	South Central Ambulance. Service NHS Foundation Trust;
	South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust;
	South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust;
	West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust; and
	Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Cancer

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of (a) physicists, (b) radiotherapists and (c) chemotherapy nurses working in cancer care; and what his estimate is of the optimum level of each of those specialists in cancer care.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold information on the number of physicists, radiotherapists and chemotherapy nurses working in cancer care.
	The Society of Radiographers estimate that there are between 5,000 and 6,000 therapeutic radiographers (by headcount) registered in the United Kingdom.
	In relation to the national health service, the latest annual workforce census data, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) on 25 March 2014, provides information on therapeutic radiography staff and radiotherapy physics staff and shows that as at 30 September 2013 there were 2,372 full-time equivalent (headcount 2,644) qualified therapeutic radiography staff and 1,146 full-time equivalent (headcount 1,214) qualified radiotherapy physics staff working in the NHS in England.
	The Government set up Health Education England (HEE) to deliver a better health and health care work force for England. HEE is responsible for ensuring a secure work force supply for the future balancing need against demand. In their Workforce plan published in December 2013 HEE confirmed a planned 3.1 % increase in the 2014-15 education and training commissions for therapeutic radiographers and a planned 9% increase in the 2014-15 education and training commissions for pre-registration adult nursing.
	The Government has supported the development of a range of specialist roles within nursing. It is for local NHS organisations with their knowledge of the health care needs of their local population to invest in training for specialist skills and to deploy specialist nurses. In this context, the Government recognises that more could be done by some local health care organisations to prioritise preventative care and better support for people in their own homes and communities. Specialist nurses can play an important role in this which can both save the NHS money and, more importantly, provide better care for patients.

Dementia

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS trusts have a strategy to ensure that the carer of every person who is admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of dementia is provided with advice and support.

Norman Lamb: Information on how many national health service trusts have such a strategy is not collected centrally.
	To help improve the care of people with dementia NHS England has introduced a voluntary scheme for acute trust providers—Commissioning for Quality and Innovation, (CQUIN)—that incentivises the recognition of people with dementia in hospitals and emphasises the importance of the best care pathway for people who have dementia.
	The CQUIN scheme also requires hospitals to support and review the experience of carers on a regular basis. Providers must undertake a monthly audit of carers of people with dementia to test whether they feel supported and report the findings to their board at least twice per year.

Drugs: Misuse

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of the illegal use of controlled substances in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) Brigg and Goole constituency.

Jane Ellison: The data is not available in the format requested; however, the Home Office published report 'The Economic and Social Costs of Class A Drug Use in England and Wales' estimated the cost of class A drug use to the NHS in England to be £488 million per year.

Foetal Death

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether evidence held by his Department about the disposal of foetal remains without the consent of the parents will be referred to the police under the Human Tissue Act 2004.

Daniel Poulter: There is no evidence from information provided to us that any offence has been committed under the Human Tissue Act 2004. The Human Tissue Authority's (HTA) code of practice on disposal covers the need for sensitive handling when dealing with disposal of fetal remains. It highlights the importance of sensitive communication to provide the woman with full information on the disposal options available to her and makes clear that her wishes are of paramount importance and should be respected and acted upon.
	The HTA will be revising its code of practice to ensure that guidance regarding disposal of fetal tissue is clear and will work with others to improve guidance in this area. The HTA will also undertake greater scrutiny of procedures for the disposal of fetal remains in HTA inspections of licensed establishments in the post-mortem sector and work closely with the Care Quality Commission on how it will, in future, cover disposal of fetal remains in its inspections.
	The information held by the Department was provided by the Channel 4 ‘Dispatches’ programme. It is a copy of the information Channel 4 received from national health service acute trusts and NHS acute foundation trusts in England following requests under the Freedom of Information Act. This is not information collected by the Department or provided directly to us by the trusts or foundation trusts and we are unable to confirm its completeness or verify its accuracy. However, a copy of the information has been placed in the Library.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much funding his Department spent on (a) genito-urinary medicine and (b) sexual health in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many (a) sexual health and (b) GUM clinics there were in England in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many members of staff were employed in (a) sexual health and (b) GUM clinics in England in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: Information on the numbers of genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics in England is contained in the following table. Information on the number of sexual health clinics, and numbers of staff working in sexual health and GUM clinics, is not collected centrally.
	
		
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Number of GUM clinics 204 206 206 209 208 
		
	
	The following table contains information on funds spent on genito-urinary medicine derived from the Department's programme budgeting data. It is based on the World Health Organisation's international classification of diseases and may differ from the scope/coverage of the GUM specialty in England. Improvements to the programme budgeting data calculation methodology, mean that these figures cannot be used to analyse changes in investment between years.
	
		
			   Expenditure (£ billion) 
			 Programme budgeting category code Programme budgeting category 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 17 Problems of the Genito Urinary System 3.78 4.37 4.48 4.62 4.78 
			 17C Problems of the Genito Urinary System-Sexually transmitted infections 0.28 0.29 0.22 0.25 0.27 
		
	
	It is not possible to identify funding spent on contraception and sexual health from funds spent on maternity and reproductive health services.

Health Services

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice he gave to (a) primary care trusts and (b) clinical commissioning groups about adherence to NICE guidelines in commissioning services.

Jane Ellison: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines are recommendations by NICE on the appropriate treatment and care of people with specific diseases and conditions within the national health service.
	While NICE guidelines are not mandatory, the Department expects providers and commissioners to take into account any relevant NICE guidelines on commissioning services as they commission high-quality care to meet the needs of patients.
	“NICE Support for commissioning” helps commissioners to work with clinicians and managers to commission high-quality evidence-based care. Commissioning care in line with NICE quality standards and guidance should enable commissioners to be confident that the services they are commissioning are cost-effective and focused on driving up quality.
	“NICE Support for commissioning” comprises web-based resources supporting quality improvement and service redesign. They accompany NICE quality standards and are available on the home page for each published quality standard.
	Support for commissioning also signposts to other implementation support tools to assist with quality improvement and provides information on key clinical, cost and service-related issues to consider during the commissioning process. Each Commissioning Support contains a commissioning and benchmarking tool, which is a resource that can be used to estimate and inform the level of service needed locally as well as the cost of local commissioning decisions.
	In addition, the NICE Commissioning resources page signposts to NICE products of value to commissioners, including NICE Pathways, Referral advice, Cost savings, NICE ‘do not do’ recommendations database, Social Value Judgments and the NICE field team.

Health Services

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many independent funding requests and better care better value decisions were submitted to English primary care trusts in 2012-13 and to clinical commissioning groups in 2013-14; and what proportion of each of these were (a) approved and (b) appealed by the patient in each year.

Daniel Poulter: The data requested is not collected centrally. Data for individual funding requests is collected locally by clinical commissioning groups and formerly primary care trusts.

Hospitals: Drugs

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health under what circumstances a carer may administer a person's medication in hospital.

Daniel Poulter: Hospital nurses can use the expertise of carers, and recognise that because carers know and understand the patient so well their help in administering medicines can in some cases be invaluable. This can be especially important when swallowing is difficult and extra help is needed, or when patients need to take critical medicines in order to minimise the risks of omitted and delayed doses. The Nursing and Midwifery Council welcomes and supports the self-administration of medicinal products and the administration of medication by carers wherever it is appropriate.
	Local hospital policies will apply in these situations and all national health service trusts should have their own medicine management policies and procedures. These should include how to minimise and manage omitted and delayed medicines and have regard to the National Patient Safety Agency's Rapid Response Report 2010/RRR009, Reducing harm from omitted and delayed medication in hospitals.

Jimmy Savile

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which health establishments are now covered by his Department's investigation into historical abuse by Jimmy Savile; when he plans that the review findings will be published; and what the timetable is for the investigation.

Norman Lamb: Investigations have commenced into the activities of Jimmy Savile relating to the following national health service hospitals1:
	1 The names of the hospitals are taken from the information received from the Metropolitan Police Service. These include hospitals that may have closed in which case the information has been passed on to the legacy organisation.
	1. Leeds General Infirmary (including St James's Hospital as it is part of the same Trust as Leeds General Infirmary)
	2. Stoke Mandeville Hospital
	3. Broadmoor Hospital
	4. High Royds Psychiatric Hospital
	5. Dewsbury Hospital
	6. Great Ormond Street Hospital
	7. Moss Side Hospital (previously part of Ashworth Hospital)
	8. Exeter Hospital
	9. Portsmouth Hospital
	10. St Catherine's Hospital Birkenhead
	11. Cardiff Royal Infirmary
	12. Rampton Hospital
	13. Saxondale Hospital
	14. Barnet General Hospital
	15. Booth Hall Children's Hospital
	16. De La Pole Hospital
	17. Dryburn Hospital
	18. Hammersmith Hospital
	19. Leavesden Secure Mental Hospital
	20. Marsden Hospital
	21. Maudsley Hospital
	22. North Manchester General Hospital
	23. Odstock Hospital
	24. Pinderfields Hospital
	25. Prestwich Psychiatric Hospital
	26. Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead
	27. Royal Free Hospital, London
	28. Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle
	29. Seacroft Hospital, Leeds
	30. St Mary's Hospital, Carshalton
	31. Whitby Memorial Hospital
	32. Wythenshawe Hospital
	33. Woodhouse Eaves Children's Convalescent Home, Leicester
	An investigation has also been commissioned by Sue Ryder in relation to Wheatfields Hospice in Leeds.
	The final reports of all the investigations will aim to be completed by June 2014.
	It is vital that all NHS and Department of Health investigations and their reports are thorough and complete, and reflect all the evidence.
	In order to ensure the investigations are rigorous and independently scrutinised, the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), appointed Kate Lampard to provide independent assurance that the Department and relevant NHS organisations' investigations are following a robust and thorough process aimed at protecting the interest of patients. Her assurance report will be published alongside the final reports from the investigations.
	To ensure that lessons are learnt, findings from all trust investigations will feed into Kate Lampard's second phase of work where she will report back on any themes emerging in relation to safeguarding, access and fundraising.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will arrange for the hon. Member for Walsall North to receive a reply to his letter to the Chief Executive, NHS Trust Development Authority, of 10 February 2014.

Jane Ellison: The Chief Executive of the NHS Trust Development Authority replied on 2 April 2014 to the hon. Member's letter dated 10 February 2014.

Mental Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department has taken to develop a population-wide measure of levels of loneliness for inclusion in the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework;
	(2)  if he will include a population-wide measure of levels of loneliness in the Public Health Outcomes Framework.

Norman Lamb: The Department is exploring the feasibility of a population-wide measure of loneliness for inclusion into both the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework and the Public Health Outcome Framework as a sub-indicator, shared across both frameworks. However, this will depend on availability of appropriate data sources and funding.
	There is already a measure of social isolation in the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework which is shared with the Public Health Outcomes Framework 2013-15.

Mental Health Services: Children

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in providing funding for counselling and psychotherapy for pupils in schools.

Norman Lamb: Funding for counselling in schools is the responsibility of the Department for Education. However, children's mental health is a key priority for this Government and we all have a part to play.
	The Department of Health is investing £54 million from 2011 to 2015 in the Children and Young People's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme. This programme includes training for service leaders, supervisors and therapists with a combination of outreach continuing professional development and postgraduate qualifications.
	The Department of Health has also funded the MindEd e-portal which I launched on 25 March. This interactive e-learning programme will extend the skills and knowledge of staff working in a range of settings, such as teachers, social workers and counsellors, on matters relating to children and young people's mental health. The project also incorporates Counselling MindEd, delivered by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, which aims to develop e-Learning in evidence-based interventions and outcome monitoring specifically for school and youth counsellors and supervisors, closely linked to the core MindEd content and delivered within the same overall MindEd e-portal.

Mental Health Services: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children have been treated in adult mental health wards in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: Data on the number of children treated in adult mental health wards in each of the last five years can be found in the table.
	More information is available in ‘Monthly MHMDS Report: A special feature on people under l8s admitted to adult mental health wards’ published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre on 11 March 2014, available at:
	www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB13697/ment-heal-month-13-14-novf-sf-report.pdf
	
		
			 Number of people aged under 18 who spent time in hospital1 during the year in national health service funded adult secondary mental health services by age2, England 2008-09 to 2012-13 
			  Total Under 16 15-16 16-17 
			 2008-09 1,096 143 285 668 
			 2009-10 980 112 266 602 
			 2010-11 1,032 97 244 691 
			 2011-123 357 47 100 210 
			 2012-133 219 23 51 145 
			 1 People are counted only once during the year per provider regardless of how many times they were in hospital. 2 This analysis is based on data which does not contain date of birth. The numbers are presented by a derived age which could be up to a year greater than their age at the time of the hospital stay. The derived age is the person's age at the end of the year or their end of the spell of care, whichever is greater. So, for example, a person aged 16 when they spent time in hospital in April, will be 17 by the end of the year, maybe still on a caseload, they will be categorised as age 17 in this report. 3 Significant changes to local systems and the way Mental Health Minimum Dataset (MHMDS) is processed between 2010-11 and 2011-12 (to implement changes to the dataset and the implementation of MHMDS version 4) mean that figures for these years are not comparable. The decrease in numbers between these two years is largely attributable to improving data quality. It is not possible to quantify the extent to which the inclusion of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services data prior to 2011-12 affects the accuracy of these figures but data suppliers have confirmed it may be an issue. Source. Health and Social Care Information Centre

Mental Health Services: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current average waiting time is for talking therapies for children with mental health problems, by local health area.

Norman Lamb: The data on waiting times for talking therapies for children with mental health problems is not yet collected centrally. The data being requested would be available only from local services.

Ministers' Private Offices

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on works and refurbishments to offices allocated to Ministers in his Department in the last 12 months.

Daniel Poulter: holding answer 31 March 2014
	In the last 12 months the Department has spent £6,551.92 on works and refurbishments to offices allocated to Ministers. This compares to an average of £22,201 per year during the last three years of the previous Government.

Mobility: Children

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many NHS trusts have developed an action plan for the delivery of mobility services for children based on the best performing providers identified by innovation, health and wealth;
	(2)  what the average waiting time was for children requiring wheelchairs in each NHS trust in each of the last five years.

Daniel Poulter: Data is not collected centrally on the number of specialised providers with action plans for the deliverability of mobility services, nor is there any data held centrally on waiting times for specialised wheelchairs for children.

NHS: Innovation

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the cancellation of the commissioning for quality and innovation pre-qualification criteria on the uptake of the high impact innovations identified through innovation, health and wealth.

Daniel Poulter: High impact innovations, as set out in ‘Innovation Health and Wealth, Accelerating Adoption and Diffusion in the NHS’, published in December 2011, are no longer subject to Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) pre-qualification criteria. However, they are now identified in both the NHS Standard Contract and the mandatory Service Development Improvement Plan (SDIP). The SDIP provides commissioners with a mechanism to work with providers to implement the six high impact innovations.
	Following its decision to remove the high impact innovations from CQUIN, NHS England is mitigating any potential reduction in uptake by working with the Institute of Financial Management Industry, Academic Health Science Networks and the Royal College of Anaesthetists, to strategically roll out the new Operating Procedure Code Supplement for these technologies. This will create an improved Hospital Episode Statistical data set, which will be recorded as part of the innovation scorecard; thus highlighting variation in uptake, so that it can be addressed.

NHS: Intellectual Property

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS trusts have strategies to exploit the commercial advantage of intellectual property developed at the trust; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: Information concerning the number of national health service trusts that have strategies to exploit the commercial advantage of intellectual property developed at the trust is not held centrally.
	It is good practice for NHS trust research and development departments to have their own processes in place to manage Intellectual Property. There are also seven NHS Innovation Hubs, which provide advice and support to trusts relating to Intellectual Property, including securing patents where appropriate.
	See the following link for a full list of NHS Innovation Hubs in England:
	www.innovations.nhs.uk

Parkinson's Disease

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what requirements there are on hospital trusts to stock medication for Parkinson's disease in their emergency medications cupboards.

Norman Lamb: The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) issued a rapid response report (RRR) on omitted and delayed medicines on 24 February 2010, (NSPA/2010/RRR009) Reducing harm from omitted and delayed medicines in hospital, which applies to the NHS in both England and Wales:
	www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/resources/patient-safety-topics/medication-safety/?entryid45=66720&p=2
	This identified medicines used to treat Parkinson's disease as critical medicines. Although emergency medicine cupboards are not mentioned directly in the RRR, NHS organisations have to review and where necessary make changes to systems for the supply of critical medicines within and outside of hours to minimise risks.

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Daniel Poulter: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Nottingham East (Chris Leslie) on 21 January 2014, Official Report, columns 146-48W, which set out the 10 largest contracts that have been let by the Department since the financial year 2010-11.
	Collecting information on 20 largest contracts by value let and the 20 lowest value contracts for each financial year since 2009-10 would incur a disproportionate cost as information requested to this level is not held in a standardised format.
	Under this Government's transparency programme, further details on published contracts are available on Contracts Finder at:
	www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Prostate Cancer

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average life expectancy is of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Government's Mandate to NHS England sets out an ambition to make England one of the most successful countries in Europe at preventing premature deaths from all cancers, including prostate cancer.
	Cancer indicators in the NHS Outcomes Framework and the Public Health Outcomes Framework will help NHS England to assess progress in improving cancer survival and mortality for men with prostate cancer.
	Data related to men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer is not collected to permit the calculation of a reliable figure for average life expectancy.

Smoking: Health Education

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by the QUIT campaign in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The total Department of Health spend on national anti-smoking campaigns (Smokefree) over the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Media spend (£ million) 
			 2008-09 23.38 
			 2009-10 24.91 
			 2010-11 0.46 
			 2011-12 3.16 
			 2012-13 8.21 
		
	
	Advertising spend is defined as covering only media spend (inclusive of agency commissions but excluding production costs and VAT). All figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000.
	Further information on the harms of smoking and also in the range of Smokefree support products can be found on the Smokefree website at:
	www.nhs.uk/smokefree

Surgery

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital procedures have been carried out using intra-operative fluid management technologies in each NHS trust in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: This information is not available in the format requested.
	The Health and Social Care Information Centre has advised that it is not possible to identify procedures that have been carried out using intra-operative fluid management technologies.

Tattooing and Skin Piercing

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that approved training and qualifications for practice of tattoos and piercings are carried out by qualified practitioners;
	(2)  if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure consistency of training and skills for practitioners of tattooing and piercing.

Jane Ellison: Under the provisions of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, practitioners are required to be registered with their local authorities and to adhere to any local bylaws regarding hygiene and infection control. There are also provisions in the 1982 Act and the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, which enable local authorities to act in respect of individuals who are operating in an unhygienic or unsafe manner.
	There are currently no formally recognised qualifications or training courses for tattooing or body piercing. There are no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure consistency of training and skills for practitioners of tattooing and piercing. We consider this is an area where progress can be most quickly and effectively made by practitioners, their organisations, industry bodies, training bodies and enforcement authorities working together to agree on suitable standards of good practice and competency.

Tattooing and Skin Piercing

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward legislative proposals to regulate temporary tattooing and piercing establishments such as tattoo fairs and pop-up shops; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: There is already legislation in place to regulate all tattoo and body piercing establishments. The provisions of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, include among other things:
	14 Acupuncture.
	(1) A person shall not in any area in which this section is in force carry on the practice of acupuncture unless he is registered by the local authority for the area under this section.
	(2) A person shall only carry on the practice of acupuncture in any area in which this section is in force in premises registered by the local authority for the area under this section; but a person who is registered under this section does not contravene this subsection merely because he sometimes visits people to give them treatment at their request.
	This language is replicated in respect of tattooing.
	The London Local Authorities Act 1991 also provides a system of licensing for premises in London on “such terms and conditions and subject to such restrictions as may be specified” including infection control.
	There are also sections in the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 which have been used by local environmental health officers to take action in respect of unsafe or unhygienic practitioners.

Telemedicine

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedure NHS England uses to benchmark the reduction of inappropriate face-to-face contact in line with Commissioning for Quality and Innovation guidance.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England's work on digitisation of transactions in the NHS is focused on freeing-up clinicians' time and improving patient experience.
	NHS England has no plans to develop a metric to specifically measure inappropriate face to face time.

Telemedicine

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if NHS England will publish updates on (a) the three million lives programme and (b) NHS adoption of telehealth and telecare models of service provision.

Norman Lamb: NHS England has undertaken a rapid review of the 3millionlives programme since taking over responsibility for it in April 2013, which has resulted in a significant shift in strategic direction-a redefined vision, mission and objectives for delivery, strong clinical and technological advocacy and support around the programme.
	The new Technology Enabled Care Services Programme is a national initiative which aims to improve the lives of people with long term conditions through the use of technologies such as telehealth, telecare, telemonitoring, telecoaching and self-care applications.
	Working collaboratively with stakeholders from industry, the NHS, social care, housing, the third sector, commissioners and providers, NHS England has identified the issues and barriers to the wider adoption of technology enabled care services. Stakeholders' recommendations will be set out in the Technology Enabled Care Services Improvement Plan 2014-17, due to be published later this month.
	NHS England recognises the potential of telehealth and telecare to significantly improve health outcomes, empower patients to self-manage their conditions, and provide care that is convenient, accessible and cost-effective.
	While there are pioneering individuals and organisations who have led the way in deploying services underpinned by these types of technologies in England, such services have not been deployed at scale. The Technology Enabled Care Services Improvement Plan 2014-17 will include steps the NHS can take to increase adoption, and the Technology Enabled Care Services Programme will provide support through training and mentoring in the skills necessary to commission and procure these types of services.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy: Conservation

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to help households improve their energy efficiency.

Gregory Barker: Over 600,000 homes have received energy efficiency improvements so far as a result of the coalition's energy company obligation and Green Deal initiatives. Green Deal assessments are stimulating interest and there had been over 160,000 by the end of February. Yesterday we announced additional £88 million from the Government to drive street-by-street roll out under the Green Deal Communities scheme.
	We expect the Green Deal market to continue to expand in 2014 and beyond.

Energy: Housing

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of how many houses in the UK have an energy efficiency certificate.

Stephen Williams: holding answer 31 March 2014
	I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	I assume the question is about the number of houses in the United Kingdom that have an energy performance certificate. No estimates of the number of houses in the United Kingdom with an energy performance certificate are made.
	On 31 March 2014, the Energy Performance of Buildings Domestic Register recorded a total of 11,295,855 domestic energy performance certificates as having been lodged on the Register since 2007. This total includes all such certificates lodged in England and Wales, including those instances where a property may have more than one certificate, for example, cases where additional energy performance certificates have been commissioned and lodged for the same property at different times. The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold details of energy performance certificates lodged in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Energy: Multiple Occupation

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consultation he plans on regulations relating to houses in multiple occupation as part of the forthcoming consultation on regulations relating to minimum standards of energy efficiency for the private rented sector.

Gregory Barker: The Department intends to publically consult on the regulations relating to Minimum Standards of Energy Efficiency in the Private Rental Sector (secondary regulations for section 43 of the Energy Act 2011) before summer 2014. How the regulations may apply to houses in multiple occupation is expected to form part of this consultation.

Fuel Oil: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of properties in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire that do not have mains gas access and which use domestic heating oil.

Gregory Barker: Estimates for the number of households which do not have mains gas and which use domestic heating oil are not available. However, the number of households that did not have access to a mains gas supply can be estimated by combining figures for the lower layer super output areas that most closely match the Pendle constituency.
	In 2012, there were approximately 1,300 households (3%) which had no access to mains gas in Pendle. The number of households that did not have access to mains gas in Lancashire is estimated to be 32,000 (6% of households within Lancashire). These data are available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lsoa-estimates-of-households-not-connected-to-the-gas-network

Fuel Poverty: South Yorkshire

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the number of children in (a) Rotherham constituency and (b) South Yorkshire living in fuel poverty.

Gregory Barker: Fuel poverty is measured at the household level rather than the individual level and detailed data on the age of household occupants is not available at the sub-regional level.
	The number of households in fuel poverty in England, which contain at least one child under the age of 16, was 898,000 in 2011. This is equivalent to about 38% of all fuel poor households.
	The total numbers of households in fuel poverty, for the areas in 2011 were estimated as:
	Rotherham constituency-about 3,960 fuel poor households (around 11% of all households in the constituency)
	South Yorkshire-about 62,750 fuel poor households (around 11% of all households in the county)

Housing: Insulation

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the number of treatable cavity wall homes in areas prone to flooding treated with inappropriate filling agents.

Gregory Barker: DECC does not hold data on the materials that have been used to fill individual cavity walls.

Housing: Insulation

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will estimate the average treatment cost to insulate (a) narrow cavity hard-to-treat walls, (b) uneven cavities in walls constructed of natural stone, (c) homes with defective or missing damp proof courses, (d) solid wall properties treatable with internal cladding and (e) solid wall properties treatable with external cladding.

Gregory Barker: The Government's most recent assessment of the costs and benefits of energy efficiency measures are set out the Assessment of Impacts which was published 5 March 2014 alongside the Future of the Energy Company Obligation consultation, available here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/286926/The_Future_of_the_ Energy_Company_ Obligation_Assessment_of_Impacts.pdf
	For the purpose of this assessment, we assumed that the average installation cost for all Hard to Treat Cavity Wall Insulation measures was £1,296. We assumed that the installation cost for Internal and External Solid Wall Insulation (SWI) varies by property size, ranging from around £4,000 to £8,000 for Internal SWI and around £8,000 to £14,000 for External SWI.

Housing: Insulation

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of homes classified as solid wall construction and built before 1920 that possess fillable cavities.

Gregory Barker: The English Housing Survey shows there were 4 million homes built in England before 1919 of non cavity wall construction. It is possible that a proportion of these could possess fillable cavities, although no estimate on how many is available.
	The tool used to produce the above figure can be accessed from the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cambridge-housing-energy-tool-guidance-note

Housing: Insulation

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what account he took of the estimates of numbers of homes with (a) partial fill cavity walls, (b) uneven cavities in natural stone walls, (c) defective or missing damp proof courses and (d) party wall cavities in the 2012 inbuilt report on hard to treat homes in the revised plans for treatment targets under the ECO scheme.

Gregory Barker: The Government's assessment of the number of households that could be supported by the proposed new ECO targets currently being consulted on is set out in the 5 March publication The Future of the Energy Company Obligation: Assessment of Impacts', available here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/286926/The_Future_of_the_Energy _Company_ Obligation_Assessment_of_Impacts.pdf
	Evidence from the Inbuilt report on various types of Hard To Treat cavity walls informed the Government's assumptions on the technical potential for these measures. Party wall cavities were not considered in the Inbuilt report, and the Government did not estimate the uptake of this technology in the Assessment of Impacts.

Members: Correspondence

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Sunderland Central dated 27 February 2014 relating to the Eggborough power station.

Gregory Barker: I would like to apologise on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change for the delay in replying to the hon. Member. My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy has since responded to this letter on 1 April 2014.

Nuclear Power Stations

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what costs were incurred by (a) the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and (b) his Department with external suppliers (i) in total, (ii) with Deloitte, (iii) with Burges Salmon, (iv) with QinetiQ, (v) with Project Time & Cost and (vi) with other external consultancies on the Magnox and RSRL contract preparation and award between January 2011 and March 2014.

Michael Fallon: In line with best practice, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which is responsible for running the competition to appoint a new Parent Body Organisation to take ownership of Magnox Ltd and Research Sites Restoration Ltd (RSRL), has used external advisers to provide it with assurance and specialist advice on the competition and contract preparation. Between January 2012 and the end of March 2014 the NDA spent a total of £2,958,234 on external advisers: £106,389 with Deloitte; £2,804,845 with Burges Salmon; and £47,000 with QinetiQ. The NDA has used no other external advisers. The Department for Energy and Climate Change has incurred no costs on external suppliers in relation to the competition.

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Gregory Barker: The information requested is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. The directorates of the Department of Energy and Climate Change carry out their own purchasing with professional support from a procurement team.
	Contracts of the Department are published on the Cabinet Office Website which can be found at:
	www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk
	The Department would be able to provide further information by narrowing the scope, if specific procurement projects were identified.
	The following table from the Departments financial records show the total spend with 20 suppliers of the highest value. This value can be made up of one or many contracts between April 2013 and February 2014.
	
		
			 Total procurement spend from April 2013 to February 2014 
			 Supplier Total (£) 
			 Met Office 22,454,098.25 
			 Office of Gas and Electricity Markets 10,312,175.00 
			 DTZ Debenham Tie Leung 6,223,422.17 
			 Fujitsu Services Ltd 5,579,513.01 
			 PA Consulting Services Ltd 4,489,654.19 
			 Energy Saving Trust Ltd 3,618,597.79 
			 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 3,374,346.57 
			 Snr Denton UK LLP 3,319,774.82 
			 KPMG LLP 2,829,292.91 
			 Slaughter and May 2,592,452.03 
			 ASE Consulting Ltd 2,447,938.74 
			 Deloitte LLP 2,428,812.08 
			 Environment Agency 2,259,766.63 
			 Shell UK Ltd 2,200,000.00 
			 Methods Consulting Ltd 2,075,259.99 
			 Parity Resources Ltd 1,944,156.57 
			 Ricardo-A E A Ltd 1,926,379.88 
			 Ernst and Young LLP 1,676,114.76 
			 DTZ Debenham Tie Leung 1,627,647.37 
			 Building Research Establishment Ltd 1,559,234.87 
			 Grand Total 84,938,637.60

Renewable Energy

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what modelling he has undertaken of the viability of the offtaker of last resort system for independent renewable energy generators under the revised arrangements for auctions for contracts for difference for established technologies.

Gregory Barker: We do not consider that the method of allocating Contracts for Difference (CfDs) has a direct impact on the viability of the offtaker of last resort (OLR).
	We have recently consulted on the OLR and are currently considering responses. Based on those responses, we will consider whether further modelling is necessary to ensure/verify that the OLR is viable as proposed.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2014, Official Report, columns 340-1W, on warm home discount scheme, on what date his Department will publish its consultation on changes to the warm home discount for 2015-16 onwards.

Gregory Barker: We plan to publish the consultation on changes to the warm home discount for 2015-16 later this spring. We have not set a date for publication.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many visits Ministers in his Department have made to the bases of regiments which returned from operational duties in Afghanistan in the last three years.

Mark Francois: Ministers, and the Prime Minister, travel on a regular basis to visit personnel deployed in Afghanistan and has done so for a number of years. Ministers also attend the Task Force Helmand homecoming parades in London, which include representatives of all the units that deployed. The Prime Minister hosted members of 1st Mechanised Brigade in the Palace of Westminster following their parade in October last year.
	In February 2013, the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Anna Soubry) visited Aldershot to visit 1st Battalion, Irish Guards following their return from operational duties in Afghanistan. In addition, in December last year the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology (Philip Dunne) attended the thanksgiving and memorial service in Salisbury Cathedral for 1st Mechanised Brigade.

Air Force: Deployment

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which RAF personnel of each (a) rank, (b) duty and (c) location are currently serving overseas.

Mark Francois: The information will take time to collate. I will write to the right hon. Member as soon as it is available.
	Substantive answer from Mark Francois to Nicholas Soames:
	I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question about Royal Air Force personnel currently serving overseas on 25 March 2014 (Official Report, column 180W).
	Following further investigation a full and accurate response to this question could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
	However, details of Royal Air Force personnel located overseas are published in the Ministry of Defence Quarterly Location Statistics table 1.1b (UK Regular Forces by Country) showing the position as at 1 January 2014. Copies of the Quarterly Location Statistics are available in the Library of the House. These figures can also be found on the following Defence Statistics website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/location-of-uk-regular-service-and-civilian-personnel-quarterly-statistics-2014

Air Force: Training

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel are taking part in the Seedcorn initiative; what the location is of each such person; and with what equipment such personnel are training.

Anna Soubry: As announced in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review the UK retains Seedcorn Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) capability with personnel embedded in MPA capabilities of our closest allies. The number and location of personnel and equipment are as follows:
	
		
			 Location Number of Seedcorn personnel Aircraft 
			 Canada   
			 Royal Canadian Air Force Greenwood 6 CP-140 Aurora 
			    
			 New Zealand   
			 Royal New Zealand Air Force Base Whenuapai 4 P-3K Orion/P-3K2 Orion 
			    
			 Australia   
			 Royal Australian Air Force base Edinburgh 2 AP-3C Orion 
			    
			 United States   
			 Naval Air Station Patuxent River 9 P-8 Poseidon 
			   1 qualified on RQ-21A Blackjack UAV 
			   4 are scheduled to train on the MQ-4C Triton during June-August 2014 
			    
			 Naval Air Station Jacksonville 11 P-8 Poseidon

Aircraft Carriers

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much electricity is consumed by a Queen Elizabeth class carrier when it is alongside with no internal power generation taking place.

Philip Dunne: It is estimated that when connected to a shore power supply a Queen Elizabeth class carrier will continuously draw up to 8 MW of electricity.

Aircraft Carriers

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what work is required to the docks at Portsmouth to accommodate the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 November 2013, Official Report, column 400W, to the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Mr Hancock).

Aircraft Carriers

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether both Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers can be docked at Portsmouth harbour simultaneously.

Philip Dunne: Yes. Significant new investment in HM Naval Base Portsmouth, including the strengthening of jetties, installing new power supplies and other infrastructure changes is required to accommodate both carriers. This work has already commenced and will continue to expand. The initial capability will be completed in time for the arrival of the first of class, HMS Queen Elizabeth, at her home port.

Aircraft Carriers

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) beam and (b) draft is of the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier when it is loaded to its maximum configuration.

Philip Dunne: When loaded to its maximum configuration a Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier will have a beam of 39 metres and a draught of 10 metres.

Algeria

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what non-lethal military support his Department has provided to Algeria in each year since 2012.

Andrew Murrison: The UK provides military support to the Algerian armed forces mainly through the provision of academic and specialised UK based courses. In 2012, 31 Algerian students from the Algerian armed forces attended UK military courses, and in 2013 seven students came to the UK for training. The courses attended since 2012 are:
	Royal College of Defence Studies
	Initial Naval Training (Officers) at BRNC Dartmouth
	RAF Initial Officer Training at RAF Cranwell
	Economic Exclusion Zone Protection Officer Course (one in 2012 delivered in the UK, one in 2013 delivered in Gibraltar)
	Stabilisation and Peace Support Operation
	Board and Search Training
	English Language Training
	HM Common Time course
	International Principal Warfare Officers' Course
	RIB training
	International Air Battle Management Course
	Multinational Peace Support Operations Instructor Training Course
	Design and Evaluation of Peace Support Operations Training
	In addition to this, in 2013, delegations from the Algerian armed forces visited the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood, and the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury. In March 2014, a delegation from the Ministry of Defence's Surgeon General's department visited Algiers to discuss potential areas for cooperation with the Algerian military medical services.

Armed Forces

Rory Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information his Department holds on where the UK ranks worldwide in terms of its number of deployable forces.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence does not hold comparative information on this topic, and conducting analysis of each nation's deployable force numbers is not straightforward. The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010, our ongoing work to deliver the Future Force and emerging work on the Joint Expeditionary Force, ensures that the UK has the appropriate number of deployable forces to meet our requirements. The UK does remain one of the very few countries that can deploy and sustain a brigade size force, together with its air and maritime enablers, for intervention and enduring stabilisation operations, almost anywhere in the world. We can also deploy three brigades with air and maritime enablers, for a limited time and with sufficient warning, for a larger one-off intervention.

Armed Forces: Firearms

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the armed forces will tender for the successor to the SA80 L86A2.

Philip Dunne: There are currently no plans to replace the SA80 L86A2.

Army: Length of Service

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average career length is of a soldier in each regiment or unit who enlisted (a) aged under 18 and (b) aged 18 or above.

Anna Soubry: The average career length by regiment or corps is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Average career length 
			 Regiment/Corps Enlisted under 18 Enlisted 18 or over 
			 Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps 11 years, 4 months 9 years, 4 months 
			 Royal Artillery 13 years, 0 months 9 years, 6 months 
			 Royal Engineers 12 years, 11 months 8 years, 6 months 
			 Royal Signals 14 years, 5 months 10 years, 1 month 
			 Infantry 11 years, 0 months 7 years, 9 months 
			 Army Air Corps 14 years, 1 month 11 years, 3 months 
			 Royal Logistic Corps 13 years, 5 months 10 years, 2 months 
			 Royal Army Medical Corps 12 years, 1 month 9 years, 10 months 
			 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 14 years, 4 months 13 years, 3 months 
			 Adjutant General's Corps (Provost) 19 years, 7 months 13 years, 6 months 
			 Adjutant General’s Corps (Staff and Personnel Support) 18 years, 10 months 14 years, 4 months 
			 Royal Army Veterinary Corps 12 years, 10 months 9 years, 6 months 
			 Small Arms School Corps 23 years, 0 months 21 years, 5 months 
			 Royal Army Dental Corps 13 years, 7 months 11 years, 10 months 
			 Intelligence Corps 22 years, 10 months 14 years, 4 months 
			 Royal Army Physical Training Corps 22 years, 0 months 19 years, 11 months 
			 Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps 14 years, 5 months 11 years, 4 months 
			 Corps of Army Music 22 years, 2 months 13 years, 3 months 
			 Senior Soldier Continuity Posts (Long Service) 34 years, 11 months 30 years, 4 months 
			 Notes/Caveats: 1. The figures are based on all trained regular other ranks who left the Army between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2013. 2. Caution should be exercised with regards to interpretation of these statistics. They are based on Army personnel covering a number of contracts or types of engagements. They form a statistical average for the Army and do not relate to the terms and conditions associated with any particular contract. Source: Defence Statistics (Army)

Army: Recruitment

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) junior entry and (b) standard entry soldiers enlisted in the Army in 2012-13; and how many such people left before completing Phase 2 training.

Anna Soubry: The minimum age for enlisting in the Army is 16 and those between the ages of 16 and 17, or in some cases 17.5, are trained as Junior Entry. The remainder are trained as Standard Entry. Those who commenced training in either the Junior Entry or Senior Entry cohorts in 2012-13, and of those who subsequently discharged prior to completing Phase 2 training are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 2012-13 
			  Enlisted Discharged 
			 Junior Entry 1,550 290 
			 Standard Entry 7,810 1,750 
		
	
	Individuals may withdraw or be discharged for a number of reasons, including medical and fitness factors, disciplinary reasons, or voluntary withdrawal. Personnel under 18 have a statutory right to discharge from the armed forces if they wish to leave.
	Figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in ‘5' have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

D-Day Landings: Anniversaries

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to facilitate the attendance of (a) veterans, (b) armed forces' widows, (c) armed forces' spouses and (d) carers to the 70th anniversary D-Day commemoration events at (i) Portsmouth on 5 June 2014, (ii) London on 22 June 2014, (iii) York on 20 July 2014 and (iv) London on 16 October 2014;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2014, Official Report, column 181W, on D-Day Landings: anniversaries, with which service and veterans' charities his Department has been liaising for each of the 70th anniversary D-Day commemoration events in the UK;
	(3)  pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2014, Official Report, column 181W, on D-Day landings: anniversaries, on what date his Department received confirmation that each of the 70th anniversary D-Day commemoration events in the UK would take place;
	(4)  pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2014, Official Report, column 181W, on D-Day landings: anniversaries, how many (a) veterans, (b) armed forces' widows, (c) armed forces' spouses and (d) carers his Department expects will be in attendance for each of the 70th anniversary D-Day commemoration events in the UK.

Anna Soubry: The 70th Anniversary D-Day commemorative events in Portsmouth are being organised by Portsmouth city council, and the military is supporting the event as requested. Similarly, the services are supporting events planned by the Normandy Veterans Association (NVA). The Department is unable to predict the numbers who may be present at any of these events and has received no requests to facilitate attendance.
	The Ministry of Defence was made aware of Portsmouth city council's planned events in April 2013. We were informed about the majority of NVA events in February 2013, and the National Memorial Arboretum event in November 2013. We have been working closely with the Royal British Legion and the NVA on the planned events to mark this significant anniversary, and have ensured that a range of service charities and associations are kept informed, including COBSEO, the Confederation of Service Charities.

Libya

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what non-lethal military support his Department has provided to Libya in each year since 2012.

Andrew Murrison: Since 2012 the UK has provided advice, training and Defence Education to Libya.
	An advisory team was established in Tripoli in 2012 to support the UK/Libya relationship and provide advice through a number of personnel embedded in the Libyan Ministry of Defence, Navy, Air Force, Land Forces and Border Security Force.
	In 2013 the advisory team was renamed the Defence Advisory and Training Team (DATT) to reflect the variety of support programmes, including strategic communication, developing explosive ordnance disposal schools, supporting the creation of a joint operational planning staff and naval training. The DATT currently numbers 34 personnel which includes a senior disarmament adviser working with the Government of Libya, the UN and international partners on disarmament issues. The DATT also provides the platform for Short Term Training Team deployments from the UK.
	In 2013 HMS Echo surveyed the coast off Tripoli including a number of ports and in February 2014 the Libyans signed a data sharing agreement with the UK Hydrographic Office.
	Libyan personnel have undergone defence education and training in the UK including: English Language Training, Initial Officer Training, Economic Exclusion Zone Protection Officers courses and Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context.
	In November 2013 the UK also established a Defence Section within the British Embassy, Tripoli with a defence attaché.

NATO

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in how many joint NATO training exercises in which countries the UK plans to participate in the next six months.

Andrew Murrison: In the next six months the UK is planning to participate in 37 joint and multinational training exercises in a NATO context.
	These exercises will take place on the territory of, in the waters around or in the skies above the following countries:
	Canada
	Croatia
	Denmark
	Estonia
	France
	Germany
	Greenland
	Italy
	Latvia
	Lithuania
	Norway
	Poland
	Slovenia
	Spain
	Turkey
	UK
	USA.

NATO

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assets and how many service personnel were involved in NATO exercise Joint Warrior from (a) the UK, (b) NATO members and (c) non-NATO members in each of the last two years.

Andrew Murrison: The tables detail the number and type of assets together with the number of service personnel from the UK, NATO members, and non-NATO members involved in Exercise Joint Warrior for the last two years.
	Maritime Units represent the number of Ships and Submarines, Land Units represent Brigades/Battery/Legion/Squadron participating and Air Units represent the number of aircraft taking part.
	Personnel numbers are rounded approximations as exact numbers vary day to day. In 2013 approximately 50 personnel and 40 augmentees from Joint Force Air Component HQ and 50 Air Surveillance and Control System personnel at RAF Bulmer also participated as part of their normal duties.
	
		
			 Joint Warrior 12-1 (16-26 April 2012) 
			  UK NATO NON-NATO 
			  Units Pers Units Pers Units Pers 
			 Maritime 14 2,385 10 1,475 0 0 
			 Land 3 3,200 3 400 0 0 
			 Air 16 260 17 325 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Joint Warrior 12-2 (1-11 October 2012) 
			  UK NATO NON-NATO 
			  Units Pers Units Pers Units Pers 
			 Maritime 7 595 19 260 0 0 
			 Land 1 50 2 50 0 0 
			 Air 20 220 11 300 8 110 
		
	
	
		
			 Joint Warrior 13-1(15-25 April 2013) 
			  UK NATO NON-NATO 
			  Units Pers Units Pers Units Pers 
			 Maritime 15 2,980 30 3030 2 80 
			 Land 5 4,000 2 600 1 20 
			 Air 19 310 23 345 1 25 
		
	
	
		
			 Joint Warrior 13-2 (6-17 October 13) 
			  UK NATO NON-NATO 
			  Units Pers Units Pers Units Pers 
			 Maritime 16 1,250 4 450 1 145 
			 Land 4 300 2 40 1 2 
			 Air 21 875 21 315 0 0

Portsmouth Dockyard

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what interruption to commercial and recreational shipping traffic is expected during the dredging of Portsmouth Harbour.

Philip Dunne: Portsmouth is a busy military port, which also manages commercial and recreational traffic flows, and the maintenance of harbour facilities, including dredging, around harbour users' requirements is routine business.

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Philip Dunne: As part of this Government's commitment to increase transparency, central Government Departments have been required to publish information about the contracts they award on Contracts Finder, which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
	In addition, details of spend in excess of £25,000 are published on the gov.uk website:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-finance-transparency-dataset

Service Complaints Commissioner

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the budget of the Service Complaints Commission has been in each year of its operation; how many staff have been employed by that Commission; how such figures will change after April 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The annual budget of the Service Complaints Commissioner can be found in the Annual Reports at the following links:
	http://armedforcescomplaints.independent.gov.uk/linkedfiles/afcindependent/423526_sccar_annualrep_tag.pdf
	http://armedforcescomplaints.independent.gov.uk/linkedfiles/afcindependent/scc_2009_ar.pdf
	http://armedforcescomplaints.independent.gov.uk/linkedfiles/afcindependent/scc_annual_report_2010_with_erratum.pdf
	http://armedforcescomplaints.independent.gov.uk/linkedfiles/afcindependent/sccannualreport2011web.pdf
	http://armedforcescomplaints.independent.gov.uk/linkedfiles/afcindependent/426354_ssc_ar_2012.pdf
	The number of staff employed by the Commissioner at the end of each calendar year, excluding the Commissioner herself is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2008 2 
			 2009 4 
			 2010 6 
			 2011 7 
			 2012 8 
			 2013 9 
			 2014 (projected) 10 
		
	
	Resource requirements are kept under review and we will continue to do so as we implement the recent announcement of a Service Complaints Ombudsman.

Tornado Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  with reference to paragraphs 7.22, 7.21 and 7.7 of Joint Service Publication 832, if he will place in the Library and on his Department's website a copy of the Service inquiry regarding the collision of two Tornado aircraft over the Moray Firth on 3 July 2012;
	(2)  whether any other aircraft were operating in the area at the time of the collision between the two Tornado aircraft above the Moray Firth on 3 July 2012.

Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Armed Forces, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois), on 3 December 2013, Official Report, column 639W. It would be inappropriate to comment on any details relating to this incident prior to the publication of the Service Inquiry.

Tunisia

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what non-lethal military support his Department has provided to Tunisia in each year since 2012.

Andrew Murrison: The UK strongly supports Tunisia's democratic transition and we are working to assist the Tunisian authorities as they deliver change. Since 2012, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has provided the following support to the Tunisian armed forces:
	In June 2012 the MOD and Department for Transport delivered Explosive Detection Equipment Training to the Tunisian armed forces in Tunisia;
	In May 2012, Tunisian military delegates attended an Economic Exclusion Zone course in the UK;
	In January 2014, a small team delivered a presentation to the Tunisian armed forces on the UK's approach to Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR);
	There are currently two Tunisian students enrolled on the International Sub Lieutenant's course in the UK.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by the Government Equalities Office were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Helen Grant: Under this Government's transparency programme, contracts are published on Contracts Finder which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

TRANSPORT

Air Routes

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the expanded Air Development Fund announced in the Budget Statement 2014 will apply throughout the UK: and how that fund will operate in the devolved jurisdictions.

Robert Goodwill: The Chancellor announced in this year's Budget that funding to maintain existing air connectivity to London—first announced in the 2013 spending round last June—will increase from £10 million to £20 million per year, and would be expanded to include provision for start-up aid for new air routes from UK regional airports, including those in the devolved Administrations, which handle fewer than 5 million passengers per year.
	The Department for Transport is working with the Treasury to develop guidance that will clarify how the Government will ordinarily expect to interpret the European Union State aid guidelines on start-up aid for new air routes, and explain how the funding process will operate across the UK.

Directly Operated Railways

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what Directly Operated Railways' total staffing budget was in each of the years since 2010-11; and what its planned staffing budget is for 2014-15 and 2015-16;
	(2)  how many staff were employed by Directly Operated Railways in March (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.

Stephen Hammond: The total budgeted staff costs for the years in question are as follows.
	
		
			 £000 
			  Salaries Other Staff Costs Consultants Total 
			 2010-11 539 77 412 1028 
			 2011-12 476 52 386 914 
			 2012-13 194 32 853 1079 
			 2013-14 378 10 455 843 
			 2014-15 1245 61 187 1493 
			 2015-16 1— — — — 
			 1 No budget. 
		
	
	As with all other costs associated with Directly Operated Railways (DOR), these are recovered through a combination of a management charge to their subsidiary (East Coast Main Line Company Ltd), charges to the performance bond which was secured from National Express following the early termination of their franchise in 2009 and fees charged to the Department for Transport for services in connection with the Rail Franchising (Direct Awards) programme.
	The total headcount in DOR for the years in question are set out in the following table.
	
		
			 Year ending March Core DOR Direct Award 
			 2010 7 — 
			 2011 7 — 
		
	
	
		
			 2012 7 — 
			 2013 8 — 
			 2014 7 16 
			 1 Prior to the year ending March 2014, DOR's work in respect of the Direct Award programme was staffed by a combination of the core DOR team and consultants.

Directly Operated Railways

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what subsidiary companies of Directly Operated Railways have been created in connection with the direct awards programme.

Stephen Hammond: The following subsidiary companies owned by Directly Operated Railways have been used in connection with the Direct Awards programme.
	West Coast Main Line Company Limited
	Northern Trains Limited
	GW Railway Limited
	South Eastern Trains Limited
	Thameslink Limited
	All of these companies are currently dormant.
	The company also owns the East Coast Main Line Company Ltd which operates rail services on the East Coast Main Line and the following companies, both of which are dormant.
	OQS Rail Limited
	Hay's Rail limited

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from the Welsh Government or the Official Opposition on Barnett consequentials for Wales resulting from future High Speed 2 expenditure.

Robert Goodwill: Ministers in the Department for Transport are in regular contact with the Welsh Assembly on a variety of matters; however, Ministers have not received representations from the Welsh Government or the Official Opposition regarding HS2 and Barnett consequentials.
	Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-transparency-data#meetings

Procurement

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

Stephen Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 721W.

Railways: Sanitation

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who is responsible for enforcing standards in the hygiene of toilets on trains; and who is accountable for any failings in this area.

Stephen Hammond: It is a matter for the Train Operator to ensure that the appropriate standards of cleanliness are met on trains.
	More information can be obtained from the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) which can be contacted at:
	2nd Floor
	200 Aldersgate Street
	London
	EC1A4HD
	Tel: 020 7841 8000

Railways: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish and place in the Library all correspondence sent in the last five years between the Welsh and UK Governments on electrification of the mainline between Swansea and London.

Stephen Hammond: My officials will collate the key correspondence sent in the last five years between Ministers in Welsh and UK Government on electrification of the mainline between Swansea and London and deposit this in the Libraries of the House.

Road Traffic Control: Motorways

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what commercial products his Department or the Highways Agency has mandated for use in road traffic management on the motorway network in the last 10 years.

Robert Goodwill: There are no products used by the Highways Agency which have been mandated in terms of what is used for road traffic management. These products are used by staff and contractors for the Highways Agency and such items are procured using a specification via a tender arrangement and not directed by the Department for Transport, or Ministers.

Road Traffic Control: Motorways

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress his Department and the Highways Agency have made in delivering the Government's small and medium-sized enterprise procurement policy in road traffic management on the motorway network since 2010; what goods and services have been procured from which companies; at what cost; and what processes were used for the procurement of those goods and services.

Robert Goodwill: The Highways Agency has made the following progress in supporting the Department in delivering Government small and medium enterprises (SME) procurement policy:
	made the use of Project Bank Account a default position on all contracts awarded since October 2011. This considerably speeds up payment times to the supply chain, including any SMEs. Highways Agency contracted business now accounts for over 80% of the overall government target for directing spend through project bank accounts;
	increased visibility of SME supply chain spend through contracts using a combination of strengthened contract reporting requirements, project bank account data and supply chain survey. It is now the case that over 30% of supply chain spend on HA contracts is with SMEs, and in some cases this can be as high as 50% of overall spend. The SME spend through the agency's planned collaborative delivery framework, currently being tendered, is expected to range between 30-50% of overall spend;
	attended and presented at “Meet the Buyer” events around the country, with the two most recent of these being in Sheffield and Reading in late 2013. The opportunity was taken further to reduce barriers for SMEs by helping them identify sources of information on potential direct opportunities (HA website, Contracts Finder, Tenders Electronic Daily (TED)), plus providing attendees with advice on how to seek extended supply chain opportunities in relation to larger contracts;
	launched a new page on their website targeting and providing information for SMEs, linked here:
	http://www.highways.gov.uk/about-us/procurement/supplier-selection-and-development/small-medium-entrprises-smes
	increased use of Open procedure through the procurement process, with the agency now looking, where feasible, to break down lot structures in framework agreements to increase attractiveness to a broader and deeper supply chain;
	amended its Instruction for Tenderers (IFT) in 2013 to state that “The Highways Agency is committed to removing barriers to SME participation in its contracts and this includes sub-contracting opportunities. If you are proposing to sub-contract part of this contract, you should provide assurance that you have considered how SMEs could play a part and details of the measures you have put in place to encourage and enable their participation as your sub-contractors. If you are awarded the contract, we will ask you to provide regular information about your spend with SMEs under the contract and may publicise good practice on our websites and report such expenditure to other Government Departments”; and
	become an active member of a cross-government Cabinet Office led SME Champions Group looking at strategic alignment, sharing best practice and promoting behavioural change towards SMEs.
	The Highways Agency awarded a Temporary Traffic Management framework (TTM) in March 2013 (estimated value £660 million over four years). Breaking down the lot structure for this encouraged application/interest from SME suppliers, resulting in one of the eight successful suppliers being an SME (Forest Traffic Services Ltd).
	More broadly, since January 2010, 93 SME companies, names of which appear in the following list, have been awarded HA contracts and/or task orders via frameworks, for the procurement of a range of goods, services and works with a total award value of just over £193 million.
	SME supplier’s
	AE Yates Ltd
	Alun Griffiths Contractors Ltd
	Ashbourne Assessment Systems Ltd
	Ashbourne ODP (Oxford Development Partnership Ltd)
	Beijer Automotive B.V.
	Belmont Press Ltd
	Benchmark Training Ltd
	Bristows LLP
	Briton Fabricators Ltd
	Burlington Uniforms Ltd
	Carnell Support Service Ltd
	Ciria (Construction Industry Research & Information Association)
	Computeraid Ltd
	Concrete Bridge Development Group
	Constructing Excellence Ltd
	Consult Capital LLP (was Holistic Services Ltd)
	Coram UK Ltd
	Corderoy
	Corporate Document Services Ltd
	Danaher & Walsh (Civil Engineering) Ltd
	Davitt Jones Bould
	DB Construction Ltd
	Dbi Consulting Ltd (acquired by Oakleigh Consulting Group)
	DG3 Europe Ltd
	Donyal Engineering Ltd
	Electronic Terminations Ltd
	Eliesha Training Ltd
	Epic Group Plc
	Fileradar BV
	Fogtec
	Forest Traffic Services Ltd
	Frontier Economics Ltd
	G & H Sheet Fed Ltd
	Gas Street Works Ltd
	Goudappel Coffeng
	Gray Hawke Ltd
	Hempsons
	Highway Care Ltd
	ILX Group Plc
	Information Processing Ltd (IPL)
	Jade Press Ltd
	JMP Consultants Ltd
	John West (Contractors) Ltd
	JPCS Ltd
	JPT Consulting Ltd
	Junction17 Defensive Driver Training Ltd
	LA International
	LMD (Learning Materials Design) Learning Solutions Ltd
	Macnaughton McGregor Ltd
	Marriott Davies Yapp LLP
	McPhillips (Wellington) Ltd
	Mendas Ltd
	Momentum Incorporated Ltd
	MWL Print Group Ltd
	Nationwide Gritting Services Ltd
	NetComposites Ltd
	Network Information Services Ltd (NIS Ltd) (Mouchel / Thales JV)
	Nicander Ltd
	Nimlock Ltd
	Nusteel Structures Ltd
	NYS Corporate
	P M Harris Ltd
	PD Consult Ltd (Professional Development Consultants Ltd)
	Peacock Salt
	Persona Associates
	Premier People Solutions Ltd t/a Premier Partnership
	Project Angels
	Pro-tect Safety Signs
	PSI Production GmbH
	Redflex Traffic Systems PTY Ltd
	RHG Consult Ltd
	Roffey Park Institute Ltd
	Rowsell Wright Ltd
	Salinity UK Ltd
	Sand Resources
	Sharpe Pritchard
	Sharpfibre Ltd
	Simulation Systems Ltd
	Stephen Austin & Sons Ltd
	Sterling Press Ltd
	Taywest Control Systems Ltd
	Technolution B.V.
	Techspan Systems Plc (part of Hill & Smith Group)
	The Concrete Society Ltd
	The Fire Service College
	Thermotor Ltd
	Variable Message Signs Ltd (VMS)
	VPI Immingham LLP
	Walsh Construction Ltd
	WDM Ltd
	Weldon Plant Ltd
	Winvic Group Ltd
	Yotta Ltd

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department and the Highways Agency are taking to reduce the risk of death or serious injury to road workers on the motorway network.

Robert Goodwill: As part of its Aiming for Zero safety programme, the Highways Agency established a Road Worker Safety programme designed to reduce risk exposure to road workers, a particular focus of which is to reduce the incidences of carriageway crossing by road workers. Within this programme, a number of projects have been commissioned to test simplifications and other changes to temporary traffic management arrangements to reduce road worker exposure to live traffic while maintaining standards of safety for road users. Some of these projects have been completed already; for example Signs Simplification, implemented December 2011, and Offside Signs Removal techniques, implemented November 2012.
	The introduction of these innovative changes has already enabled a very substantial reduction in the number of carriageway crossings, leading to a proportionate reduction in road worker risk exposure. In March 2014 the Highways Agency published further guidance on the Offside Signs Removal technique, allowing it to be used to close a four lane carriageway. The Highways Agency is continuing to work with its supply chain to take forward further projects within this programme with the aim of further reducing road worker risk.